The Upper Room Covenant Group

Second Causes

2009-12-08T08:09:00.001-05:00

How grateful I am that we have the resource of sites like "Monergism" and others that provide a vast amount of solid Biblical teachings for free. I would not have the understanding I do today, nor would I and my family have known the transformation we are experiencing without this ministry.Yesterday I heard a great message by Wayne Grudem on the gifts of the Spirit that corrected some of my wrong thinking. Since God in His grace was pleased to open my eyes to the truth of the gospel and the knowledge of His sovereignty in all things I have been somewhat confused about healing and how I pray and not contradict God's sovereign will. I have found myself in settings where asked to pray with others for specific ailments and unable to speak because my prayers would be in direct opposition to those who asked me to pray. A little background is necessary here; I have been part of "charismatic" assemblies all of my Christian life who seem to believe, but would not admit, that God is a tool in their hands vs. (what I believe) we are a tool in His. Their prayers are more like demands, and refusals to believe are viewed as weak faith or lack of a right understanding of God. Their understanding of God is one that does not desire that any of His children should suffer in any way, and all suffering is a direct result of Satan. So, we rebuke Satan, pray very specifically, right down to the molecular structure, speaking to the muscles, etc. commanding them to line up, and all in the name of Jesus. While there is a very little truth in this caricature, it does not represent a Biblical view of the character of God and ignores much of what scripture says about the authority of Satan.What God revealed to my heart yesterday I had learned before but did not know... yes that is possible. It is the Holy Spirit that brings a revelation of God and truth through scripture, preaching, etc., while I had heard and even learned this tuth I did not know it. It can be found in The Westminster Confession which has this beautiful statement; "God, from all eternity, did, by the most wise and holy counsel of his own will, freely, and unchangeably ordain whatsoever comes to pass: yet so, as thereby neither is God the author of sin, nor is violence offered to the will of the creatures; nor is the liberty or contingency of second causes taken away, but rather established." (WCF 3.1) The understanding of two words, "second causes" is what cleared up the whole matter for me yesterday.Yes God does heal! I knew that but how did I reconcile this with the truth that yes God is sovereign? He uses sickness, illness, pain, suffering of any and all types to fulfill His purposes on the earth, but He also uses the supernatural (Boy it scares me to say that word because of the gross distortions I have seen in the circles I travel in). Can we command God to do a thing? Should we command God to do a thing we see as proper with our wretched feeble humanistic sympathic minds? Do we really have that kind of authority? I have to admit I don't have the answers to those questions yet, but He in His divine will has ordained the use of "second causes", and that includes my prayers for the sick, it includes the laying on of hands, it includes the anointing of oil, it includes the preaching and teaching of the word, it includes personal study, it includes websites like monergism, it includes deep abiding friendships. Will He always heal... What's been your experience? What's been mine? No, of course He doesn't... Is He good regardless of whether or not He chooses to heal? Yes of course He is.I am constantly reminded when I think of the overemphasis on healing in the church today of the multitudes that followed Jesus after He fed them in John 6, until He explained the cost of being His disciple in that same chapter and they all went away except those He had chosen. It wasn't healings that caused the New Testament Church to grow, it was persecution. If it wasn't for the stoning of Steven they would've never left Jerusalem. So... pray for the sick, and especially for those whom He does not know yet. God may open a door to thier heart through your compassion. Perhaps prayer does a little more than just change me.

Great blog...

2009-11-28T10:18:00.001-05:00

Check this out guys and gals,

Hope you all had a great thanksgiving.

Tim

http://www.warrantedfaith.org/

Prayer

2009-11-23T09:33:00.000-05:00

I of all men am no expert in the practice or understanding of prayer, and even though I often long to spend time in prayer and see it as my chief work while in this world I most often ignore the spirit’s urgings.

I have heard recently that God will listen and lend His hand to our cause if we are only persistent, if we simply do not give up. This teaching was gleaned from the passage in Luke 18:1-9, the parable of the persistent widow. It’s important whenever we hear a passage of scripture that seems to contradict what we know about the character of God to examine it in light of all of scripture as best we can. One of the first things that came to mind for me was the Apostle Paul’s persistent plea that God remove the “thorn from his flesh” and God’s refusal to do the very thing that Paul saw as necessary to the advancement of his ministry. So what is our Lord saying in these passages?

I spent some time this morning in Matthew Henry and what I read there confirmed my own understanding of prayer, that it changes me. In prayer I do bring my problems to God simply because I show up… I am the problem, and I bring myself to Him. God’s refusal to answer certain things is designed to develop my character, and my persistence proves and exercises my faith. The greatest faith a man can have is the resolution that “whatever happens” God is good and He is working all things out for good (Romans 8:28), and that good is His glory and will ultimately be the best for us. I often wonder if those great saints who died and are continuing to die for our faith cursed the day they had to pay with their lives. History proves the opposite, many hugged the post on which they were tied and sang hymns extolling his majesty as they burned in the flames.

As you look through the letters Paul wrote to the church you see his manner and the content of his prayer. Eph 1:17-19 “ ,that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him, the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power.” Phil 1:9-11 “And this I pray, that your love may abound still more and more in knowledge and all discernment, that you may approve the things that are excellent, that you may be sincere and without offense till the day of Christ, being filled with the fruits of righteousness which are by Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.” Read also Col 1:9-18 which is a wonderful passage…

And finally I leave you with this prayer lifted up by George Whitefield which I believe God is honoring today 239 years after his death…

“Yea…that we shall see the great Head of the Church once more . . . raise up unto Himself certain young men whom He may use in this glorious employ. And what manner of men will they be? Men mighty in the Scriptures, their lives dominated by a sense of the greatness, the majesty and holiness of God, and their minds and hearts aglow with the great truths of the doctrines of grace. They will be men who have learned what it is to die to self, to human aims and personal ambitions; men who are willing to be ‘fools for Christ’s sake’, who will bear reproach and falsehood, who will labor and suffer, and whose supreme desire will be, not to gain earth’s accolades, but to win the Master’s approbation when they appear before His awesome judgment seat. They will be men who will preach with broken hearts and tear-filled eyes, and upon whose ministries God will grant an extraordinary effusion of the Holy Spirit, and who will witness ‘signs and wonders following’ in the transformation of multitudes of human lives.”

Prayer changes us not God.

1 John 2:2 The whole world?

2009-11-10T08:17:00.000-05:00

1 John 2:2 and he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.
This scripture seems to take the guts out of the doctrines of grace, especially the efficacy of Jesus Christ’s atoning work on the cross. If he actually died for the whole world then the fact is inescapable that He and God the Father, and the Holy Spirit have failed in what they intended to accomplish. Also, if His atoning work was for the whole world, if He died for the whole world, none would go to the hell which Jesus speaks of 11 times in scripture.
The classical arminian view is that Christ only suffered for our sins, He actually died for no one, He only made salvation possible. In this view it could be entirely possible that no one would ever benefit from Christ’s sufferings. This view is called the “Governmental Theory”, and according to governmental theory, Christ’s death applies not to individuals directly, but to the Church as a corporate entity. Individuals then partake of the atonement by being attached to the Church through faith. It is also, therefore, possible to fall out of the scope of atonement through loss of faith.
It important for us to understand what Scripture says about Christ’s intent. Let’s look at Matthew 1:21 “And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.” The angel when speaking to Mary the mother of Jesus does not mention the whole world, he speaks of a specific people, and a definitive effect of Christ coming. Further study can be found in John 10:11/14-16/26-29, Acts 20:28, Eph 5:25-27, and finally if Christ actually died for everyone then Romans 8:31-33 cannot be true.
It’s important to note as well, that if Christ died for everyone, which is not the arminian view, if he suffered or was punished for all our sins, if the wrath of God against sin was poured out on Him, and then you as part of the world choose not in this life to make a decision with your “free-will” to accept this offer and are sent to an eternal hell. God has required double payment for your rebellion. He paid it in full in His Son and requires the payment of you as well, how unjust.
So what does this passage mean?
You have to know a little history about the nation of Israel; God’s chosen people, the “elect” nation. For all of recorded history He/God had been the God of one nation, all others were outside the covenant. This is best represented by the story of Jonah, who when God told him to go to the city of Nineveh and preach the gospel he fled instead, not because he was afraid, but because of his prejudice. He knew God was a merciful God and would show mercy to these brutes who had brought much misery on the nation of Israel. You know the story, he finally gets there and yes God shows mercy. How does Jonah respond, or rather how would you respond if sent to a city to preach the gospel and the whole city came to Christ? You would rejoice… right? What does Jonah do? He gets mad Jonah 4:1 but it displeased Jonah exceedingly and he got very angry, and in 4:3 he wants to die, he requests that God take his life. This is the world the Apostle John is speaking to, a world that felt a person must become a Jew before they can truly become a Christian, an extraordinarily prejudiced people.
In John 10:16 Jesus says, “And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd”. The world therefore is “every nation”, He has chosen a people for Himself out of every nation, and His atoning work is efficacious for them.
He beckons us to join Him in this mission with the chief aim… God’s Glory!

Tonight

2009-10-26T22:58:00.002-04:00

Guys & Gals,

I think I let my emotions get the best of me tonight... what's new right? In my remarks concerning the two men who were talking about video games they enjoyed I may have made the impression that these kinds of indulgences are inherently wrong or sinful. It's my firm belief unless I can be convinced otherwise that they are not... the issue is not the video games or any other thing like that we may enjoy. The real issue (I think) is are these things taking the place that God should rightly have in our personal devotion. Please forgive me.

Sincerely,

Your brother "IN" Christ! ...tim

The Atonement

2009-10-14T19:56:00.000-04:00

Recently God has blessed my life through the ministry of Derek Thomas of Reformed Theological Seminary, Jackson MS. I was able to download a (25) part series of lectures given at RTS in Jackson from www.monergism.com. I would like to share a little excerpt from one of those lectures on the atonement that was especially enlightening to me.

“Does the death of Jesus make salvation possible or does it actually guarantee our salvation… What did it set out to achieve? Did it set out to achieve the accomplishment of our salvation, or did it set out to achieve something hypothetical? Did the death of Christ make something possible if something is added to it, namely “human faith”? Or did the death of Christ guarantee that salvation would be actual, because those for whom Christ died would be given faith according to the plan and purpose of God? That is the issue and the scripture that we heard in John 10 (John 10:14-15, & 27-28) would seem to point in the direction of the second rather than the first namely, that the death of Christ sets out to actually achieve salvation not simply to make salvation possible… but if the death of Jesus was only something hypothetical, that He only died to make salvation possible, then the fact that He died gives us no cause for assurance, if at the end of the day it is wholly dependant on something we do, or wholly dependant on the effectiveness of our response. Then assurance becomes impossible.”

The Arminian who believes that Christ actually died for everyone makes God out to be entirely unjust, in fact more so than they lead others to believe that we, the Calvinists do. If God punished Christ for the sins of everyone, and then punishes again those who with their supposed “free will” do not chose Him by sending them to an eternity in Hell, He is a monster. He has judged and punished the sins of mankind twice, once in Christ, and once again in the reprobate, …unthinkable.

Do we receive this gift by faith? Yes, by the faith that God gives us, a faith that is the first breath of the new born child of God. Do we choose Him with this faith? Yes, because we are made willing, we are made able. Our eyes are opened by Him to see the horror of our condition and the only way of escape in the glorious beauty of His Son and the price He paid for our sins; first to appease the wrath of God, then to purchase our salvation. He didn’t die for people in general, He died for you in particular, He had you specifically in mind. How glorious is this! How wonderful! How marvelous! How much glory does God get when these things are taught rightly! It’s these truths that set men’s hearts on fire, that sends them to the outer edges of this planet to minister the gospel, enduring unbelievable suffering, and giving up all that our “precious” America has to offer.

The Arminian in his attempt to open wide the gate of salvation actually gravely diminishes the work of Christ, and cast water on the fire of the Christian’s heart, stripping them of their assurance and removing any guarantee of success in ministry.

Qualifications and Duties of an Elder

2009-09-09T15:18:00.004-04:00

I'd like to share something the Lord really brought to light during my time of study today. When considering somebody for a job or even submitting your own resume, the prerequisites are somewhat flexible. For example, if the applicant lacks a required degree but offers significant work experience, the degree requirement can be waived. This is not the case with scriptural qualifications for any position. And while such a revelation may be trivial to the scholarly, God spoke simply to me today: These are the qualifications prescribed by God Himself.

This is not to suggest that perfection should be our criteria, for the implication that any of us could achieve such mastery is fundamentally heretical. I only mean to emphasize the severity of the decisions we will all be making very soon. I pray that each of us approach this situation with fear and trembling.

I found the following article on elder qualifications and duties at http://www.ccwonline.org/elders4.html. Something we can all study over this week as we prepare for Monday's group. If you find error or omitted requirements, please let it be known in the comments section.

Make much of Christ!

Qualifications of an Elder

The following is a list of the biblical qualifications that an elder must possess. No elder will be a perfect man, but if he is clearly and persistently lacking in any of these qualities, he cannot serve in the church as an elder. An elder must be:

above reproach (lit. "blameless") 1 Timothy 3:2; Titus 1:7.
This qualification is the summation of all of the rest. It means that there is nothing in his life that would justify a legitimate accusation of misconduct or call his character into question.

the husband of one wife (lit. "a one-woman man") 1 Timothy 3:2; Titus 1:6.
Whether a man is single or married, he must be living a sexually pure life. For a married elder, it also means that he must be faithfully devoted to loving his wife (Ephesians 5:25; 1 Peter 3:7).

temperate (moderate, not given to excess) 1 Timothy 3:2.
In all areas of life, an elder must be calm, well-balanced, careful, and sane—one who at all times is capable of clear thinking and sound judgment.

sober-minded (a sensible, serious person) 1 Timothy 3:2; Titus 1:8.
This does not mean that an elder may not laugh or joke or play. It means he leads a disciplined life, not allowing frivolous activities to distract him from more serious and important concerns.

of good behavior (respectable, orderly) 1 Timothy 3:2.
The opposite of the Greek in this case is chaos (utter confusion). An elder's outward behavior must demonstrate decency, orderliness, and self-control.

hospitable (lit. "one who loves strangers") 1 Timothy 3:2; Titus 1:8.
An elder must be one who shows genuine kindness and hospitality, not only to the members of his church, but also to people he does not know well.

a lover of what is good (lit. "one who is inclined to do good") Titus 1:8.
Closely related to hospitality, an elder must be one who not only loves the concept of goodness, but also is prone to doing good to others.

able to teach (lit. "skilled in teaching") 1 Timothy 3:2; Titus 1:9.
There is no biblical requirement that an elder have a formal education, but he must be an able teacher and defender of the truth (cf. 2 Timothy 2:2, 24; 2:15; Titus 2:7-8).

not given to wine (lit. "not a drinker" or "not addicted to wine") 1 Timothy 3:3; Titus 1:7.
Though not an absolute prohibition, this is a serious warning that an elder cannot be preoccupied with alcohol or known as a drinker. Due to abuse, however, it may be advisable for elders to abstain from alcohol altogether in order to avoid offense or damaging influence (cf. Romans 14; 1 Corinthians 8).

not violent (lit. not "a giver of blows," or "a striker") 1Timothy 3:3; Titus 1:7.
An elder must be a man who solves problems and settles disputes peacefully, using persuasive words and calm demeanor, not his fists or other weapons.

gentle (patient, gracious, forgiving) 1 Timothy 3:3; 2 Timothy 2:24.
An elder must not be a man who holds a grudge or is slow to forgive. He must be one who will patiently bear with those who are needy, difficult, reluctant to change, or slow to learn.

not quick-tempered (he must be slow to anger) Titus 1:7; James 1:19-20
Anger in itself is not always a sin. There is a righteous sort of anger. An elder, though, must be a man who recognizes and controls his own propensity to become angry.

not quarrelsome (not argumentative) 1 Timothy 3:3; 2 Timothy 2:24-26; James 3:13-18
He must be a man who will defend the truth strongly, but in a peaceable manner. He must not be one who allows himself to become embroiled in hostile disputes or petty arguments.

just (righteous or upright) Titus 1:8.
He is a man who is known for doing what is right. He lives a life of practical righteousness, trying to reflect God's view in every decision he makes.

holy (lit. "devout" or "set apart to God") Titus 1:8.
An elder must be firmly committed to God and His Word. He must be faithful to the ministry and to biblical doctrine, not one who gives in to social, political, or religious pressure to compromise.

self-controlled (or self-disciplined) Titus 1:8.
He must be a man who is disciplined in terms of his response to physical desires for food, pleasure, comfort, money, sleep, sex, or anything else which could cause him to stumble.

not covetous (not a lover of money) 1 Timothy 3:3; Titus 1:7; 1 Peter 5:2.
An elder cannot be motivated in the ministry by financial gain or greedy in his lifestyle. He is a man who will trust the Lord, be content with what is provided, and be thankful.

one who rules his own house well (a good manager and leader) 1 Timothy 3:4; Titus 1:6.
An elder must have proven himself a good manager of his children (if he has children), his personal finances, and his household in general.

having his children in submission with all reverence (having obedient, respectful, faithful children) 1 Timothy 3:4-5; Titus 1:6.
The children of an elder must not have a reputation for uncontrolled behavior or insubordination. Additionally, an elder must not be a harsh or brutal man, but must maintain order in his family through loving leadership, consistent biblical training, and proper discipline.

not a novice (not a new or immature believer) 1 Timothy 3:6.
An elder must be a mature believer, especially in relation to others in his particular church. If even a capable man is elevated to the position too rapidly, he will battle with pride.

He must have a good testimony among those who are outside (well respected even by unbelievers in the community) 1 Timothy 3:7.
An elder must have a consistently good testimony in all places and with all people (aside from those who would persecute him or accuse him falsely), even outside the church. He must be just, honest, peaceable, and loving in every context.

He must serve, not by compulsion, but willingly . . . eagerly (he must desire to serve) 1 Peter 5:2; 1 Timothy 3:1.
Elders must not be pressured into service if it is not their personal desire to serve in this capacity. An elder's desire to serve must be God-given and his motives pure.

not self-willed (not anxious to control others or to have his own way) Titus 1:7; 1 Peter 5:3.
An elder must not be a man who is anxious to dominate or control others. He must be a team-player, realizing that while he is a shepherd, he is also one of the sheep.

an example to the flock: 1 Peter 5:3; Titus 2:7.
An elder will not be perfect, but he must be a man who will lead the church, by instruction and example, according to God's Word.

Duties of an Elder¹

In the Bible, the distinction is made between a shepherd and a hired hand (John 10:11-15). A shepherd (elder) has in his heart a God-given love for the sheep and a desire to care for those entrusted to him. The hired hand is unwilling to become as emotionally involved—unwilling to confront the dangers that threaten the sheep—unwilling to truly love the people under his care.

As you consider a man for the position of elder, evaluate him in light of these six essential duties which characterize a good shepherd:

Pastoral intimacy
An elder must develop the relationships that under-gird all other ministry toward individual members.
(John 10:11, 14)

Pastoral tutelage
An elder must provide personal biblical instruction for increasing character, skills, knowledge, faith, love, and enthusiasm.
(Acts 20:20, 27; 1 Timothy 4:16; 2 Timothy 3:16-17; 4:1-2 Titus 3:1-2, 8)

Pastoral guidance
An elder must offer objective biblical direction through conflicts, reversals of life, distortions in thinking, and difficult decisions for those under his care.
(2 Timothy 3:16-17)

Pastoral consolation
An elder must give spiritual comfort during trials.
(2 Corinthians 1:3-7; Thessalonians 5:14)

Pastoral guardianship
An elder must watch out for the enemy's assaults on the weakness of the sheep. He must warn the sheep of danger and discipline them when they become rebellious.
(Acts 20:28-31; 1 Thessalonians 5:14; 1 Timothy 6:20; 2 Timothy 4:1-5; Hebrews 13:17)

Pastoral intercession
An elder must pray with and for those entrusted to him.
(1 Samuel 12:23; Romans 1:9; Ephesians 1:15-21; Philippians 1:9-11; Colossians 1:9-12)

Please Consider

2009-08-25T17:13:00.003-04:00

Everyone, Please read this from Mark Driscoll and consider as we proceed?

Even a cursory reading of the Bible reveals that when God wants to get something done He starts by selecting a man to lead that change. Examples include sparing humanity (Noah), founding a nation (Abraham), liberating a nation (Moses), establishing a throne (David), building a Temple (Solomon), preparing hearts (John the Baptizer), and redeeming all of creation (Jesus).
And, church planting is no different. Simply, before God can build a church plant He must build a church planter. Acts 29 exists to find the men who sense that God has called them to plant a church, assess those men to see if they are indeed qualified for God to begin His work with, train those men and help them to plant a church that will, in turn, plant other churches. Therefore, we are very particular in seeking a particular kind of man and this article is intended to clearly articulate what type of man we are seeking.
First, we are seeking a man who is qualified to be the founding elder of a church plant who is so exemplary that God would be happy to then have other men in the church aspire to be like that man. Elders are the male leaders of the church who are also synonymously called pastors, bishops, and overseers throughout the New Testament (Acts 20:28; Ephesians 4:11; I Peter 5:2). The elders are men chosen for their ministry according to clear biblical requirements (I Timothy 2:11-3:1-7; Titus 1:5-9).
The elders are always spoken of in plurality because God intends for more than one man to lead and rule over the church as a safeguard for both the church and the man. Therefore, the objective of the founding elder is to seek out and raise up men who are qualified to be his peers in leading the church and until such men are found, the founding elder has the difficult task of functioning as the solo elder as Paul, Timothy, and Titus occasionally did. This requires that the solo and founding elder be an extraordinarily manly man of great courage, wisdom, toughness, and dedication to Jesus.
To evaluate the fitness of a man to function as the founding elder in a church plant, we examine the teachings of the Bible. There are two primary places that the Bible defines the qualifications of an elder (I Timothy 2:11-3:7; Titus 1:5-9) and the lists are virtually identical. Therefore, to help you understand these qualifications we will briefly list and explain them from there appearance in Timothy.
1 Timothy 3:1-7 Here is a trustworthy saying: If anyone sets his heart on being an overseer, he desires a noble task. Now the overseer must be above reproach, the husband of but one wife, temperate, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, not given to drunkenness, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money. He must manage his own family well and see that his children obey him with proper respect. (If anyone does not know how to manage his own family, how can he take care of God's church?) He must not be a recent convert, or he may become conceited and fall under the same judgment as the devil. He must also have a good reputation with outsiders, so that he will not fall into disgrace and into the devil's trap.
This section of sacred Scripture lists seventeen qualifications for a man to be even considered as an elder/pastor that I will briefly articulate. Additionally, because Paul says that anyone who desires this high calling desires a noble thing it is good for all of God's men to aspire to this kind of life and to become very familiar with each of these requirements.
#1 - Relation To God
A man -- masculine leader
Above reproach -- without any character defect
Able to teach -- effective Bible communicator
Not a new convert -- mature Christian
#2 - Relation To Family
Husband of one wife -- one woman man, sexually pure
(this does not require a married as Paul, Timothy, Jesus, and widowed men could qualify
though we are very cautious to accept single men as a founding pastor)
Having obedient children-- successful father
Manages family well-- provides for, leads, organizes, loves
#3 - Relation To Self
Temperate-- mentally & emotionally stable
Self-controlled-- disciplined life of sound decision-making
Not given to drunkenness-- without addictions
Not a lover of money-- financially content & upright
#4 - Relation To Others
Respectable-- worth following & imitating
Hospitable-- welcomes strangers, especially non-Christians for evangelism
Not violent -- even tempered
Gentle -- kind, gracious, loving
Not contentious -- peaceable, not quarrelsome/divisive
Good reputation with outsiders-- respected by non-Christians
In summary, only men of finest character are fit for leadership in God's church. What is not required according to the Bible is formal theological training, though such training can indeed be very beneficial. What is also not required is a salary, though an elder/pastor is worth an honorable wage (I Timothy 5:17-18). The issue of which men lead the church is of the utmost seriousness because the reputation of the gospel in the community and health of the church are contingent upon godly, qualified men who keep in step with Jesus and can lead the church to do likewise. In this way, the elders function as an accountable team much like Jesus first disciples and are therefore quite unlike secular notions of a business or non-profit organizational board. In addition to the qualifications of an elder, the Bible also provides the duties of elders/pastors.
Prayer & Scripture study (Acts 6:4)
Ruling/leading the church (I Timothy 5:17)
Managing the church (I Timothy 3:4-5)
Caring for people in the church (I Peter 5:2-5)
Giving account to God for the church (Hebrews 13:17)
Living exemplary lives (Hebrews 13:7)
Rightly using the authority God has given them (Acts 20:28)
Teaching the Bible correctly (Ephesians 4:11, I Timothy 3:2)
Preaching (I Timothy 5:17)
Praying for the sick (James 5:13-15)
Teaching sound doctrine & refuting false teachings (Titus 1:9)
Working hard (I Thessalonians 5:12)
Rightly using money & power (I Peter 5:1-3)
Protecting the church from false teachers (Acts 20:17-31)
Disciplining unrepentant Christians (Matthew 18:15-17).
Obviously to achieve these difficult tasks a man must be disciplined, organized, courageous, dependable, patient, well read, hard working, and discerning; a man who gets things done in an effective and timely manner which also means that he's passionate and self-motivated. Practically, this is why throughout the pastoral epistles Paul also speaks of the lead elder with a number of metaphors that are pregnant with meaning and therefore important for every pastor to regularly meditate upon.
To plant a church that honors God a man must preach and teach the Bible with all of the strength and fortitude of an ox that can pull a multitude of people in his wake (1 Timothy 5:17-18). Satan routinely sends heretics, nutjobs, and false teachers of all kinds into a church plant because it's systems are yet fluid, it's leadership is yet unsettled, and it's relationships are yet uncultivated. Therefore, you must ensure that sound doctrine regularly proceeds from your lips and pen so that love for Jesus and love for others (Christians and non-Christians alike) are the marks of health in your church plant.
To plant a church that honors God a man must fight like a dependable soldier of Jesus Christ (2 Timothy 2:3-4). Throughout his letters Paul continually admonishes Timothy to fight a good fight. And with the world, the flesh, and the devil conspiring to thwart your work you must do likewise. Soft men who are prone to avoid conflict or crumble under pressure will end up like an acquaintance of mine whose church plant collapsed as he lay on his living room floor crying like a baby while Hymenaeus and Alexander proceeded to take over.
To plant a church that honors God a man must train and compete with the precision of a skilled athlete (2 Timothy 2:5). Lazy men who adore their hobbies rarely plant much of a church because they end up wasting time, wasting energy, and being undisciplined with everything from their Bible to their fork as they tend to read too little and sleep and eat too much.
To plant a church that honors God a man must sweat at his labor like a farmer (2 Timothy 2:6). Many young men are attracted to ministry because, as one pastor said, it's a job indoors that does not require any heavy lifting. But, when done rightly, ministry in general and church planting in particular, is work. Like the farmer who owns his own land no one will wake you up in the morning, set your schedule, or give you a performance review to let you know how you are doing. So, like the hard working farmer you will need to simply get yourself up every morning and work hard gathering people, studying and teaching, raising money, locating facilities, building systems, and the like.
The sad truth is that there are seemingly few men who are qualified to hold the title of pastor/elder, let alone be the founding pastor of a church plant. Jesus said as much and commanded us to pray for God to raise up workers and send them into the harvest and so we do.
After reading this article you will likely find yourself in one of three categories. Some will realize that they are simply not qualified and we would simply ask you to not apply to Acts 29 because it is a waste of your time and ours. Some will realize that they are not yet ready but could be and we would encourage you to connect with a good church led by the kind of qualified men that you aspire to be, where you ask them to help you prepare for God's call on your life. And, some of you believe you are both called and qualified to plant your church and we would welcome you to apply to Acts 29, attend one of our boot camp assessments, and see if we are a good fit for assisting in the church you aspire to plant.

The Holy Spirit

2009-08-02T20:27:00.004-04:00

So... is the work of the Holy Spirit, or maybe more plainly speaking the gift of the "baptism" of the Holy Spirit purely to serve the need of man? To give him power to live a better life? To give him all that he needs to get through this life with ease? ...or does the baptism in the Holy Spirit serve the purposes of God? Is He given to us to Serve God's purposes... or man's?

I think I know the answer but this morning I heard something different. When He was poured out, the Apostles did what? They spoke the Word of God in boldness... What happened? The hearers received the ministry of the Holy Spirit which produced the following; Acts 2:37 Now when they heard this they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, "Brothers, what shall we do?"

The Holy Spirit convicted them of their sin by pointing to Christ. This is the work of the Holy Spirit, not to help us with our life, not to serve our purposes... right?

Instruct me, challenge me, sharpen me... if you will.

I am alienating all my facebook friends so I will post my musings here if that's okay.

Street Preachers cont...

2009-07-05T18:15:00.002-04:00

Here is another servant of Christ pouring out his love on an underserving world...

"Psalm 19:7 The law of the LORD is perfect, converting the soul: the testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple."

Street Preachers...

2009-07-05T17:36:00.003-04:00

Last night my family and I had the annual privilege of watching the fireworks in Colonial Williamsburg. We took our chairs, blankets, water and patience. To get one of the many best seats you have to arrive about two hours early. Fireworks of another sort had already started. Unlike any other year the street was lined with Gospel preachers, who set up thier stools right in the middle of the street and started preaching the "law"! God bless them for thier boldness, love for Christ and His elect. The reaction was volatile at some points, turn up your sound and see how Williamsburg reacts to the Gospel, it looked like something out of Acts...

The simple gospel...

2009-07-03T08:41:00.002-04:00

I have been reading the biography of Adoniram Judson, the first missionary sent from America, and although there are many very compelling events from his life one struck me yesterday as I was reading an excerpt from his third wife's journal.

"As he sat down it was evident, even to the most unobservant eye, that most of the listeners were disappointed. After the exercises were over, several persons inquired of me, frankly, why Dr. Judson had not talked of something else; why he had not told a story...
On the way home, I mentioned the subject to him.
"Why, what did they want?" he inquired; "I presented the most interesting subject in the world, to the best of my ability."
"But they wanted something different... a story."
"Well, I am sure I gave them a story... the most thrilling one that can be conceived of."
"But they had heard it before. They wanted something new of a man who had just come from the antipodes."
"Then I am glad they have it to say, that a man coming from the antipodes had nothing better to tell than the wondrous story of Jesus' dying love."

Here is a man who has buried four children, two wives, been imprisoned, tortured, captured by pirates, waited six years for the first convert, sat in the courts with kings, seen great revival, completely translated the Bible into a foreign language from the Greek and Hebrew, and was the only original survivor of the mission outpost. His testimony? 1 Cor 2:2 For I determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified.

I thought it strange too with all of the emphasis on the miraculous in the church today, that there was not one mention of a miraculous healing in 505 pages. God chose to glorify Himself through this suffering servant. I'm not saying God doesn't heal, but what I am saying is that He of His own free will may chose not to if it fulfills His purposes. If He can get more glory from my life through suffering, regardless of what kind, who am I to argue with the creator of the universe. Am I promised my full inheritance while living in this body?

What about you? Does the story of God's redemption bore you? Do you need funny, or compelling stories to keep your eyes open during the Sunday service? Are you praying for the miraculous and forgetting about your neighbor? Do you feel that's its your right as a believer to walk in perfect health, to never endure suffering? Is your freedom more important than God's? Who are you living for?

Holiness vs. Moralism

2009-05-27T17:26:00.003-04:00

Lately we have been blessed by the ministry of Arturo Azurdia and although most of his messages are challenging, convicting, and saturated with truth, one passage gave me a new perspective on holiness. I will try (with removing some contextual references that would not apply in this format) to pass this on to you, and I hope it enriches you as it has me these past few days.

"God wants a holy people, not a moral people mind you, but a holy people. Is there a difference between the two? Absolutely, positively; to capture it most clearly, it's the difference between the pharisees, the most zealous of all the religious leaders in ancient Isreal and the Lord Jesus Christ himself. There is the dichotomy you see, they were moral, He was Holy. Morality is the negative concept, it defines itself in terms of what one refrains from doing. More often than not it's preoccupation is with externals. Holiness on the other hand is the much more positive concept. Like its related term, it is much more holistic. It embraces the externals to be sure, but it doesn't stop there it's far more penetrating, far more thorough going, far more comprehensive.

Let's illustrate the difference;

The moral person abstains from wrong actions; the holy person hates the very thought of doing wrong.
The moral person is driven by what people percieve him to be; the holy person is consumed with what God wants him to be.
The moral person mindlessly adheres to a cold list of do's and don'ts; the holy man ponders what brings the greatest pleasure to his Holy Father.
The moral person keeps a meticulous record of all his good deeds expecting by them to win the favor of God; the holy person greives that nothing he ever does even for God is completely free of sinful and selfish motives, and so he knows then that every blessing he ever receives from God is pure grace.
The moral person lives by his own definition of what is right and wrong and he delights to impose that definition upon other people; the holy person allows the word of God to direct his life and in anything beyond that, he gaurds the silences of the Bible and relishes the freedom that Jesus Christ has purchased for His people, honoring the differences that that freedom allows among those that dearly love the same Saviour.

Holiness effects the heart, it effects the mind, it effects the action, the will, the conscience, the motives. Holiness effects the totality of a person. What he is, where he goes, how he feels, what he thinks.

Unfortunately we are living in a time when the vast majority of our american evangelical subculture is morality driven rather than holiness driven. Because we have failed to rightly understand that mans real problem is rooted in an evil heart our preoccupations have been focused on the actions that flow from that evil heart rather than on the heart itself. Consequently if we can just get a person to clean up his act just a little bit, get a bit more moral we as the church can slap ourselves on the back in congratulations and conclude that we have won the day. If we could just get prayer back in public schools, if we could just shut down all of the planned parenthood clinics, if we can just elect more christians to congress, it's morality driven not holiness driven revealing our failure to understand the radical difference between moral improvement and life from death. The record of the sacred text tells us that God's great delight is fulfilling His purposes in the world not through the means of a moral majority, but through the means of a holy minority. It is holiness that God wants for His people, not morality." (Arturo G. Azurdia III, Engaging the Culture, John 17: 17-19, Session 2, compliments of Monergism)

Does any of this define you, if you said no, have someone check your pulse.

God, drive the stench of this world out of us, your people, Amen.

Back!

2009-05-27T11:48:00.002-04:00

All,

I'd like to use this site for the Bible Study again. Updated, thoughts and things we would like to do in the future. We can post here and proof read before sending to Dead Saints. It's just a thought, but this site had a more personal touch for our group. Dead Saints is more for those outside our group. Let me know what you think.

Please consider the following as well. Go to Heart Cry and pray about supporting a missionary as a group. I'd like to adopt a Missionary as a group and raise money for him if that is something you all would be interested in?

Moved to a New Site

2009-04-17T14:39:00.002-04:00

All,

We've moved to www.deadsaintssociety.com We are still working on the site and you will see some big changes as the days pass. With that said, there is a new post on the site and it is from Martyn Lloyd Jones about Altar Calls. Check it out and talk to everyone soon.

Whose Righteousness?

2009-04-09T20:32:00.003-04:00

"One day as I was passing into the field, this sentence fell upon my soul. Thy righteousness is in heaven, and me thought with all I saw with the eyes of my soul Jesus Christ at God's right hand. There I say was my righteousness, so that wherever I was, or whatever I was doing God could not say of me he lacks my righteousness. For that was just there in front of Him! I also saw moreover that it was not my good frame of heart that made my righteousness better, nor yet my bad frame that made my righteousness worse, for my righteousness was Jesus Christ Himself, the same yesterday today and forever. Now did my chains fall off my legs indeed! I was loosed from my afflictions and irons! My temptations also fled away... so that from that time those dreadful scriptures of God left oft to trouble me. Now went I also home rejoicing for the grace and love of God." (John Bunyan 1628-1688)

Rom 5:18-19, Therefore as by one offense sentence came on all men to condemnation, even so by the righteousness of One the free gift came to all men to justification of life. For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of One shall many be made righteous.

The obediance here is not just His death on the cross, it was the whole of His life! This obediance has been appointed onto us, His sheep. This truth when God reveals it to your heart will cause you... no drive you to do marvellous acts of obediance and sacrifice for Him.

Php 3:8-9 But no, rather, I also count all things to be loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them to be dung, so that I may win Christ and be found in Him; not having my own righteousness, which is of the Law, but through the faith of Christ, the righteousness of God by faith,

This truth has set my heart free... Oh may I be found in Him! ... I just want to be found in Him!!!

New DOT COM

2009-04-09T13:38:00.002-04:00

All,

We will be moving to another web site in the near future. It will be our own domain and should be easier to remember and repeat than the current site. We will give you more details once the site is completed.

David

Trust in Our God

2009-04-03T06:54:00.002-04:00

"I would trust my God as unreservedly as Alexander (The Great) trusted his friend, who was also his physician. The physician had mixed a medicine for Alexander, who was sick, and the potion stood by Alexander's bed for him to drink. Just before he drank, a letter was delivered to him in which he was warned that this physician had been bribed to poison him, and had mingled poison with the medicine. Alexander summoned the physician into his presence. When he came in, Alexander at once drank the cup and then handed his friend the letter. What grand confidence was this! He would not let the accused know of the libel till he had proved beyond all dispute that he did not believe a word of it." Charles H. Spurgeon

It occurred to me in Study and Prayer this morning that I have been short sighted in my understanding of Satan's Wiles and Deceits. I am fully aware that he accuses me before God. I am from time to time stumbled because of his trickery. Yet I am relieved and comforted when I think upon Christ. Can Satan bring a railing accusation against him? Can my Lord be accused of evil? I know that if I be found in him I am safe. And yet. It never occurred to me that his trickery goes even deeper. My problem lies not in the fact that he accuses me before God, but that he accuses God before me. He would convince me that I have sinned one to many times and that God could not possibly still love me. I have committed the same sin numerous times and God has had it. He would convince me that my rebellion or doubt is stronger than the Blood my Savior Spilled so that God could Fully Love me and remain Fully Just. Satan is right when he accuses me for I am of all creatures to be despised. Yet there is Christ. But Accuse my God, how terrible. How terrible. The thought brings tears to my eyes. Even worse, is that I have, in my Christian walk believed his lie on so many occasions. Yet, even for this depraved, doubtful and trust less sin, there is Christ. Can you not see him? God is not like us, nor does he love as we do. Trust in our Lord and what he has done for he is worthy. Praise be to God.

Considerations for a New Blog

2009-04-01T11:23:00.006-04:00

As we move forward in considering a new website and stronger blog presence, I will post information and updates here. Please comment liberally as we progress.

Theme
Some themes for your viewing pleasure and consideration. Please let me know what you think and provide feedback.

Those listed below are in my preferred order. I favor the top one far above any other but it is a premium theme (meaning it is not free). Still, the functionality, simplicity, aesthetics, etc. are some of the best I have ever seen.

http://www.woothemes.com/demo/?t=19 (premium theme)

http://wordpress.org/extend/themes/elegant-grunge

http://wordpress.org/extend/themes/inove

http://www.woothemes.com/demo/?t=25

http://wordpress.org/extend/themes/gravel

http://wordpress.org/extend/themes/autumn-forest

If you have another theme you would like to recommend, please link to it in the comments section below.

Hosting
I have used Host Monster in the past and have had tremendous success with their simplicity, stability, security, and price. Their prices are as follows:

3 Months @ $9.95/month + $30.00 Setup + $10.00 Domain Registration (Total: $69.85)
6 Months @ $9.95/month + $30.00 Setup + $10.00 Domain Registration (Total: $99.70)
12 Months @ $6.95/month (Total: $83.40)
24 Months @ $5.95/month (Total: $142.80)
36 Months @ $5.95/month (Total: $214.20)

While the 12 month price was originally discussed, my recommendation is to go with the 24 month because it is the best value. It also provides a little extra motivation to blog all the more as it is a bit more of an investment. {{begin exhortation}} Currently, David has the vast majority of posts, distantly followed by Tim. The rest of us (myself included) should be making better use of this tool.{{end exhortation}}

Those are the two subject I leave you all to consider for now. Please provide feedback concerning the theme and hosting below. I will update this periodically as the project progresses. As we come to agreement on a plan of action I will start a cost estimate sheet as well.

How Are We Different?

2009-03-31T06:37:00.004-04:00

1Peter 3:15, but sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and be ready always to give an answer to everyone who asks you a reason of the hope in you, with meekness and fear;

This weekend the family and I spent some time in a local bookstore and I picked up a copy of John Piper's book "Don't waste your life". Since then we have all been fighting over who's going to read it first... Nick won (He's better with the light saber). In this book there was a powerful message from Dr. Piper where he submits this thought for us to consider; "Is the reason that the world does not ask us this question today because they don't see this hope within us?" "Do they look at us and see someone fighting for the same things they are?"

How are we different? Are we living in such a way that the world would look at us and say; "How can you be so joyful in this situation?" "Why are you taking that kind of risk, do you ever plan to retire, what about your kids, don't you want them to go to college, what's wrong with you?" This question has come up often as we have been on this adoption journey. We have never been more helpless in any situation during our 20 year marriage, nearly everything has gone wrong that could have, war, extortion, corruption, delay, incompetence, etc... but all of this has been intermingled with occasional bright strands of hope. He has developed in us a maturity of faith that could be gained no other way, which brings me to another question. What is our goal anyway... His glory or our satisfaction? If it is His Glory then shouldn't we leave the process and the results entirely up to Him?

What's your situation? Would people ask you what's the reason for the hope within you? Are they seeing your radical brightness in the face of unrelenting circumstances? Are you living for the same things the world is?

Regardless of the outcome I would have chosen no other path! Read the attached ( http://www.aimint.org/usa/heritage.html ) story of Peter Cameron Scott, the founder of "Africa Inland Mission". Called to the mission field at a young age, soon after getting there he was flattened by malaria and sent home. When he got well he went back and this time he took his younger brother. His brother died soon after his arrival. He dug a hole and buried him and how does God respond? He flattens him with malaria again. He goes back to England and visits the grave of Dr. Livingstone and reads the words written there, the last of which were, "Other Sheep I have which are not of this fold, them also I must bring and they shall hear my voice (John 10:16)" He went back, and today untold thousands call Him saviour as a result of this dying seed.

Are You Watching?

2009-03-27T06:49:00.002-04:00

"Sinners are not, as a general rule, punished here. Their sentence is reserved until the dy of judgment. Some people regard every accident as a judgment, but we do not agree with them at all, else should we have frequently to condemn the innocent. This is not the time of judgment. Judgment is yet to come." Charles Spurgeon

Matthew 24:37-39 - But as the days of Noah, so also will be the coming of the Son of Man. For as they were in the days before the flood: eating. and drinking, marrying, and giving in marriage, until the day when Noah went into the ark - and they did not know until the flood came and took all away - so also will the coming of the Son of man."

"They were sensual and worldy; they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage. It is not said, They were killing and stealing, and whoring and swearing (these were indeed the horrid crimes of some of the worst of them; the earth was full of violence); but they were all of them, except Noah, over head and ears in the world, and regardless of the word of God, and this ruined them. Note, Universal neglect of religion (True Religion) is a more dangerous symptom to any people than particular instances here and there of daring irreligion. Eating and drinking are necessary to the preservation of man's life; marrying and giving in marriage are necessary to the preservation of mankind; but These lawful things undo us, unlawfully managed. - They were eating and drinking when they should have been repenting and praying; when God, by the ministry of Noah, called to weeping and mourning, then joy and gladness. This was to them, as it was to Israel afterwards, the unpardonable sin, especially because it was in defiance of those warnings by which they should have been awakened. "Let us Eat and Drink, for tomorrow we die, if it must be a short life, let it be a merry one." The apostle James speaks of this as the general practice of the wealthy Jews before the destruction of Jerusalem; when they should have been weeping for the miseries that were coming upon them, they were living in pleasure, and nourishing their heart as in a day of slaughter, Jam. 5:1,5. - Note, What we know of the things that belong to our everlasting peace, if we do not mix faith with it, and improve it, is all one as if we did not know it at all. Their not knowing is joined with their eating and drinking, and marrying. Note, the reason why people are so eager in the pursuit, and so entangled in the pleasures of this world, is, because they do not know, and believe, and consider, the eternity which they are upon the brink of. - They were so taken up with things seen and present, that they had neither time nor heart to mind the things not seen as yet, which they were warned of. - Those who will not know by Faith, shall be made to know by feeling, the wrath of God revealed from heaven against their ungodliness and unrighteousness. Judgments are most terrible and amazing to the secure, and those that have made a jest of them." Matthew Henry

Live Feed 03/23/2009

2009-03-24T13:57:00.003-04:00

All,

Praise God for a great study last night! I think we finally worked through the bugs. The Picture quality was much better and the sound gets much better about halfway through. Hopefully, we will start next week with all of these issues resolved. We are still missing a few people due to sickness and other happenings. Please keep Tim's daughter in your prayers and Pastor Dave and his wife as they will be traveling this week. I am looking forward to next week and hope to see everyone there.

David

YOUR CROSS

2009-03-19T16:10:00.002-04:00

Matthew 16:24-26 - "Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it. For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?"

Christian, consider the words of Christ above. If you are a Child of God and are following after Christ, you will have a Cross to bear. We each have our own Cross if we belong to Christ. Some of us may struggle under a sickness. Others a debt. Some are persecuted most violently for the faith. Others may suffer under the load of a partner that fights against your sanctification. Be of good cheer and do not murmer. God has divinely placed these things in our lives to conform us to the image of Christ. If that is our goal and we seek above all else Christ and his Kingdom then look apon your cross and see the Loving Hand of God himself. Oh, how the Martyrs embraced the Crosses, Stakes and Fagots.

Consider the words from this old Hymn: "Must I be carried to the skiesOn flowery beds of ease,While others fought to win the prize,And sailed through bloody seas."

Verses from II Corinthians: 1:5,6,7- "For as the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so our consolation also aboundeth by Christ. And whether we be afflicted, it is for you consolation and salvation, which is effectual in the enduring of the same sufferings which we also suffer: or whether we be comforted, it is for your consolation and salvation. And our hope of you is stedfast, knowing, that as ye are partakers of the sufferings, so shall ye be also of the consolation." 4:8-10 "We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; Persecuted, but no forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed; Always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body."

This is no easy road we are on and we will one day look back on these minor trials and praise God for the Grace we received from them. May he be glorified in our lives! Keep your chins up and eyes on Christ and be of good Cheer lest others see and think we serve a hard master.

Monday, March 16,2009 Live Feed

2009-03-15T20:36:00.003-04:00

All,

I am very sorry to inform everyone that this weeks study will be canceled. Many of our members have come down with the bug that is going around. We are however, planning on meeting sometime this week to discuss or goals and purposes for the live feed. We will be back next Monday to pick up where we left off, Lord willing.

Hebrews 13:13 - Therefore, let us go to him outside the camp, bearing His reproach. For we do not have here a continuing city, but we seek a city coming.

Broadcast Feedback

2009-03-10T09:26:00.008-04:00

Praise God for the valuable feedback I have received today from many of yesterday's viewers. I would like to discuss some of my thoughts as well as those provided to me from our Internet viewers.

Video quality. Due to some technical difficulties and bandwidth limitations, we had to reduce the video quality significantly. Some have mentioned that it looked as though we were all part of the witness protection program (lol). David and I should have this issue resolved by the next broadcast. In the meantime, know that we are not trying to conceal identity and rest assured none of the study members have been featured on America's Most Wanted.
Audio quality. I have received varying reports regarding the audio. After reviewing the video, I was able to discern most of what was said as long as I had headphones on and volume (both on the video player and on my computer) turned way up. There is a noticeable degradation in audio quality when many people are talking simultaneously, and/or when speaking down toward the ground. I have two solutions in mind which I intend to implement over the next couple studies. First, if I can get Ustream to recognize the Mini DV camera, the problem should self correct. Otherwise, we may need to stage a mic somewhere near the center of the group. I am hesitant to proceed with the second solution as I do not wish to distract from the group with something as obtrusive as a microphone.
Pop-up Advertisements. I am sorry for the small ad banners that pop-up from the bottom of the video screen during broadcast. Please remember this is a free service (Ustream) which is requires a significant amount of technological hardware, software, and programming on the back-end. In order to maintain this free service, Ustream must generate ad revenue. We may be able to get rid of the ads in the future, if the Lord decides to bless and continue this approach. In the meantime, you can minimize ad distraction by clicking the full screen button located to the far left of the video player.
Notes. Some had a hard time following the study because they did not have our notes. I would like to suggest posting the notes here - on the blog - a couple days prior to study. This can be done as just a regular blog post titled "Notes for February 9th 2009" etc. We can then link back to those notes from the Ustream page as well as from the chat room during the study.
Chat Activity. I understand some would have liked more activity from me in the chat room. I intend to be more active once I am no longer using the built-in web cam on my Mac. It was a bit difficult to type without facing the computer so as not to distract viewers. A technical difficulty to hopefully be worked out by next week.
Purpose. I received a question regarding our purpose in offering the live broadcast. Is it to allow others to listen and learn or to listen, interact and learn? I find much more value in the later as long as there is a small group of viewers. However, this is something we will need to discuss in person. Our current objective is to trial this concept for four weeks (three weeks remaining) and reevaluate. If God is blessing the live broadcast, we will continue and step out further. Otherwise, we will likely discontinue broadcasting and revert to the groups original method. If we are led to continue this venture, we will need to more clearly define our objectives.

Thank you all for watching and proving feedback as we attempt new things. I sincerely hope you can watch again next Monday and again evaluate the broadcast.

However, and above all, I hope you are gaining Biblical knowledge and growing closer to the Lord during these studies. This marginal talent of our live broadcast can easily be glorified by worldly standards, but if your spirit is not bearing witness to the Holy Word of God and gaining fruit through this study, it is vanity. Remember the fig tree in Mark 11:

13 And seeing a fig tree afar off having leaves, he came, if haply he might find any thing thereon: and when he came to it, he found nothing but leaves; for the time of figs was not yet.

14 And Jesus answered and said unto it, No man eat fruit of thee hereafter for ever. And his disciples heard it.

...

20 And in the morning, as they passed by, they saw the fig tree dried up from the roots.

21 And Peter calling to remembrance saith unto him, Master, behold, the fig tree which thou cursedst is withered away.

22 And Jesus answering saith unto them, Have faith in God.

Notice the fig tree had leaves and appeared healthy by all worldly standards, yet it bore no fruit. The fig tree's faith was nothing more than a bluff, a facade, a goat who called itself a sheep, a mock Christian, a false ministry. As we evaluate the broadcast aspect of this study, I pray God will show us fruit, not just leaves. If he reveals leaves, let us remove it completely.

Likewise, if you are watching the broadcast, I would much rather you hear and believe then concentrate on the quality of the broadcast. I appreciate your feedback and it will definitely help us reach others, but it is so much more important that you simply listen and grow in Christ.

Afterwards

2009-03-09T20:43:00.002-04:00

All,

I would like to thank everyone who visited the site and watched the first live feed. Wow! Sorry for all the technical issues, bad picture and poor sound quality. Everything kinda fell apart in the last 10 minutes. Our internet is up and running, NOW, and next week, Lord willing, the picture quality and sound should be much better. May God search our hearts and may his will be done as we proceed.

Sincerely,
dbbickley

LIVE FEED TODAY AT 5:45

2009-03-09T09:00:00.002-04:00

Hebrews 13:13-14 "Let us go forth therefore unto him without the camp, bearing his reproach. For here have we no continuing city, but we seek one to come"

All,

If you are a part of our Bible Study or joining us for the first time, I would like to welcome you. Please take a few minutes to look around the site. In addition to the blog, we have some great sermons to the right, music, movie clips and then we have study helps at the bottom of the site. We would also like to know who is out there with us and the best way is to sign up to be a follower of the blog. In addition, please feel free to post comments to our blogs and if you have any prayer request, please shoot them to us in the form of a comment.

We will be attempting to Live Feed the Bible study for the first time this evening. It is our plan to begin at 5:45 and finish up at 7:00. However, because this is our first run, we may have some difficulties so please bear with us. Keep in mind, that we are about 20 Chapters into our study of the Great Doctrines of the Bible. If you would like to join the study, you can order the book (we have provided a link to the right) from Amazon or most Christian Book Stores. It would be very helpful to read the Chapters that you have missed to understand the foundation for what we are speaking about. If you miss the study tonight or Mondays do not work for you, we will have archived studies at Ustream.com which is linked to this site as well.

Our Bible study is very diverse in age and Church affiliation. We will not always agree and are working through a lot of doctrinal error in an attempt to know this God we serve in a deeper way. We sincerely hope that you will join us on this journey to know our God in a way that glorifies him.

Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing

2009-03-05T21:00:00.004-05:00

This Hymn has been one of my favorites, if not my anthem for some time. I did not notice it until tonight on the site... thank you David. The reality of what God is doing, I believe/hope/trust, in each of us is richly described in these verses penned in 1758. (The melody is by Asahel Nettleton 1813). Tonight as I was worshipping and listening to this hymn I discovered the most glorious satisfaction in Him in this process of sanctification. And, until tonight when the word sanctification came to mind, pain closely followed in it's footsteps. But... tonight that was not the case. Look at this second verse, "Sorrowing I shall be in spirit, Till released from flesh and sin, yet for what I do inherit, Here Thy praises I'll begin;" In my sorrow I was comforted, and in my comfort praises rose to my King! He has sealed my heart, and His goodness has become like a fetter, binding my wandering heart.

Like Asahel Nettleton I think I'm beginning to discover that this process of sanctification is one of the greatest blessings we can experience while here on earth. Let us hold fast to the encouragement from Tuesday night and jealously guard one another's holiness.

The whole Hymn is below;

Come, Thou Fount of every blessing,
Tune my heart to sing Thy grace;
Streams of mercy, never ceasing,
Call for songs of loudest praise.
Teach me some melodious sonnet,
Sung by flaming tongues above.
Praise the mount! I’m fixed upon it,
Mount of Thy redeeming love.

Sorrowing I shall be in spirit,
Till released from flesh and sin,
Yet from what I do inherit,
Here Thy praises I’ll begin;
Here I raise my Ebenezer;
Here by Thy great help I’ve come;
And I hope, by Thy good pleasure,
Safely to arrive at home.

Jesus sought me when a stranger,
Wandering from the fold of God;
He, to rescue me from danger,
Interposed His precious blood;
How His kindness yet pursues me
Mortal tongue can never tell,
Clothed in flesh, till death shall loose me
I cannot proclaim it well.

O to grace how great a debtor
Daily I’m constrained to be!
Let Thy goodness, like a fetter,
Bind my wandering heart to Thee.
Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it,
Prone to leave the God I love;
Here’s my heart, O take and seal it,
Seal it for Thy courts above.

O that day when freed from sinning,
I shall see Thy lovely face;
Clothed then in blood washed linen
How I’ll sing Thy sovereign grace;
Come, my Lord, no longer tarry,
Take my ransomed soul away;
Send thine angels now to carry
Me to realms of endless day.

NEXT WEEKS LIVE FEED

2009-03-03T21:30:00.002-05:00

All,

It was a great meeting tonight, but not neccasarily and easy one. We are all apprehensive about exposing ourselves to whomever may watch. I know I speak for everyone when I say that it is our desire to honor God in all that we do. If for any reason you change your mind before next week, please let me know and we can put it on hold or cancel all together. I earnestly hope that each one of you will pray fervently that God will be honored and that if it pleases him, he would use our group and each member for his purpose and glory. We must keep in mind that God does not need anyone of us or this little website. However, he may be pleased to use us and or it. Martin and I will try and get the details and positioning worked out this week. I guess that myself, Pat, Tim and Pastor Dave should take the seats in front of the Fire Place and Doug should sit at the end of the couch closest to the fire place. If you have another idea, please let me know because it would be helpful to have this established before we get here on Monday. We will start recording at 5:45 and open with prayer and Martin will turn the camera off after we close in prayer. We agreed to try it out for four weeks and then reevaluate. If there is anything that needs to be addressed in regards to next Monday please let us know. Thanks again for every one's input and I am looking forward to seeing everyone next week. Oh, I added a link to the side so people can find and purchase the book easily on Amazon.com May God bless each one of you.

Worship

2009-03-03T07:43:00.003-05:00

Amos 5:23 and 24 - "Take the noise of your songs away from Me; and I will not hear the melody of your stringed instruments. But let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream."

I wanted to take just a quick second and add to what we spoke about the other day in regards to Worship. It is of the utmost importance to note that God decides how he is to be worshipped. It is not us who decide how we will approach him. We can may be very excited about our music and it may be upbeat and the people may feel it and earnestly try to worship and it can be rejected. We may feel the presence of what we perceive to be the Holy Spirit and yet our worship may stink in the nostrils of God. We may totally reject modern worship songs and sing to God Hymns and psalms that rightly point to the Glory of God and be totally rejected of Him. Our Worship serves no purpose and only angers God if we are not Worshipping him in truth and with our Life. May we be a people separated unto God. Let us be Just with one another and jealous for each other's Holiness. Let us hold each other accountable for the Glory of God. Let us strive for righteousness and holiness by praying that God would conform us to the image of his Son. Let our life be offered up to God in true and pleasing Worship.

Possible Live Feed - Consider

2009-02-28T09:52:00.002-05:00

All,

I hope everyone is well. I met with Martin last night and he suggested something that I would like everyone to consider. He has the ability and know how to "Live Feed" our little group to the Internet. It would be cast to a different website that would link to our site, temporarily. Then that feed could be archived and viewed at any time. All that view it can be tracked. I know of people who do not attend but who are interested in what the Lord is doing here. What a perfect opportunity to reach others with these great truths and yet keep our immediate group at a manageable size! In addition, when people go out of town or miss group, they can catch up with what happened. There are many things that can be done on the site such as Posting the Outline of each study and having a chat forum. We don't know of anything like it on the Web. This could be an open door and then again it may just be a tool for our group. Martin will be back at group on Monday and we would like everyone to try and stay back about 20 to 30 minutes if possible for him to answer questions that you may have and to show you what can be done. I personally think it is a great idea and utilizes a gift that we have been given and a talent given to one of our members. It may be that if we put this out there, the Lord does not bless it. If that is the case, then it can be canceled and we will continue as we were. However, if the Lord does bless it and it grows, we will want to consider incorporating both our current site and the new site into one. Please also know that we can film in such a way that those who don't want to be shown on the Net will not have to be. Please consider and Pray about this and I look forward to speaking with you all over the weekend and or on Monday. May God richly bless each one of you!

Wheat and Tares - By Matthew Henry

2009-02-27T06:48:00.002-05:00

Commentary on Matthew 13:24-43 - "Observe, Such is the proneness of fallen man to sin, that if the enemy sow the tares, he may even go his way, they will spring up of themselves and do hurt; whereas, when good seed is sown, it must be tended, watered, and fenced, or it will come to nothing. The tares appeared not till the blade sprung up, and brought forth fruit. There is a great deal of secret wickedness in the hearts of men, which is long hid under the cloak of a plausible profession, but breaks out at last. As the good seed, so the tares, lie a great while under the clods, and at first springing up, it is hard to distinguish them; but when a trying time comes, when fruit is to be brought forth, when good is to be done that has difficulty and hazard attending it, then you will return a discern between the sincere and the hypocrite: then you may say, This is wheat, and that is tares."

The Upper Room Covenant Group

2009-02-25T15:29:00.002-05:00

I Thessalonians 5:15-24 "See that none render evil for evil unto any man; but ever follow that which is good, both among yourselves, and to all men. Rejoice evermore. Pray without ceasing. In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you. Quench not the Spirit. Despise not prophesyings. Prove all things; hold fast that which is good. Abstain from all appearances of evil. And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. faithful is he that calleth you, who also will do it."

All,

We are entering a new stage in the life of our Covenant Group. It has been relatively easy thus far. We are beginning to discuss doctrines that have divided many bodies of believers in Church History. Sometimes division is needed to preserve Holiness or Vital Doctrine, other times division has been because of pride or ambition. I have been praying that God will preserve this group if it be his will, from without and from within. I would ask everyone to search themselves and test their motives for being in this group. I know we are aware, but sometimes it is helpful to repeat it, we are all from different backgrounds and have different experiences. Some people may say things that we disagree with and some people may say things in a tone we do not like. Yet it is important to keep in mind the exhortation of numerous scripture. We are to prefer one another and are to be patient with one another in love, helping the weaker brothers and sisters. Yet I believe that we are also to bear with those brethren that may be bolder and more outspoken. The body consist of John Wesleys and George Whitefields. We all have different gifts and different "orchestrated" weaknesses. Something much higher than our belief, reputation or pride is at stake! We are being conformed to the image of Christ and there are people whom we do not know that are looking in at us to see if this work is of God. Let us all give one another the benefit of the doubt as we proceed. If we are offended, let us prove all things and hold to that which is good. God cares for his Children and will not look kindly on those who mistreat them. If this is not your heart then it may be best for you to leave now. If it is your heart, and I trust it is, then let us proceed in fear, being jealous for one an other's holiness and sanctification as we are our own. If we see sin or immaturity in another, let us approach them in love for their benefit and the strengthening of the body. Faithful is he that called us! Oh, let that be close to our hearts! If we are his children and act toward one another as the world does, he is faithful to chastise us to preserve us and Glorify his Holy Name.

I am not saying that anything is wrong but I see the danger of it and we should be extremely cautious as we proceed. This is not directed at anyone as much as it is directed at myself. I tend to speak before I think and if I were to offend you, I would hope that you would be gracious towards me and not speak ill of me or sneer behind my back. I have made mistakes and the Lord has been faithful to correct me. If you will not call me on my sins, then pray to God that he will correct me. I would consider this the loving and faithful act of a brother, sister and friend. I will do my best to be faithful in this respect to you as well. I Love, more than you can know, each member of our group and it is my deepest desire that God would move among us and send us out for from here for his Glory.

May God richly bless each one of you and may He cause His face to shine upon you.

Hasty Prayer

2009-02-21T20:06:00.005-05:00

Ecclesiastes 5:2-Be not rash with thy mouth, and let not thine heart be hasty to utter any thing before God: for God is in heaven, and thou upon earth: therefore let they words be few.

This verse needs no real exposition. How careful would we be if we were standing before the President of the United States? Regardless of how we felt about a President, I am sure that we would tread and speak carefully out of fear and respect. And yet, in most Churches and Christian gatherings, when the schedule says it's time to pray everyone bows their heads and someone starts praying before most people have closed their eyes. I am amazed at how quickly people just start running their mouth when they are supposed to be in the presense of God. Isn't prayer something that God calls us into? Does he not know what we need before we ask it? It is God who invites us into communion with him and WE receive benefits and blessings thereby. Let us, who believe in the Sovereignty of God not cast away this understanding when it comes to prayer. Yes, we may approach boldly but that does not mean presumptuously. If it were not for Christ and his Righteousness we could not come to the base of the Mountain, much less into the very throneroom. Make much of Christ! Cling to him, look to him and do not run infront of him into the Presence of God. Keep it in the forefront of your mind that our God is a Consuming Fire and as CS Lewis wrote, "He is not Tame."

Prayer

2009-02-18T09:32:00.004-05:00

Last night my wife and I had a discussion on the effect of our prayers, and why it seems that most times God doesn't answer our petitions. I went back to AW Pink's book "The Sovreignty of God" and read the section on prayer. This is an excerpt that I thought might help some of us who struggle with this.

Our views respecting prayer need to be revised and brought into harmony with the teaching of Scripture on the subject. The prevailing idea seems to be that I come to God and ask Him for something that I want, and that I expect Him to give me that which I have asked. But this is a most dishonoring and degrading conception. The popular belief reduces God to a servant, our servant: doing our bidding, performing our pleasure, granting our desires. No; prayer is a coming to God, telling Him my need, committing my way unto the Lord, and leaving Him to deal with it as seemeth Him best. This makes my will subject to His, instead of, as in the former case, seeking to bring His will into subjection to mine. No prayer is pleasing to God unless the spirit actuating it is "not my will, but Thine be done." "When God bestows blessings on a praying people, it is not for the sake of their prayers, as if He was inclined and turned by them; but it is for His own sake, and of His own Sovereign will and pleasure. Should it be said, to what purpose then is prayer? it is answered, This is the way and means God has appointed for the communication of the blessing of His goodness to His people. For though He has purposed, provided, and promised them, yet He will be sought unto, to give them, and it is a duty and privilege to ask. When they are blessed with a spirit of prayer it forebodes well, and looks as if God intended to bestow the good things asked, which should be asked always with submission to the will of God, saying, Not my will but Thine be done" (John Gill).

The distinction just noted above is of great practical importance for our peace of heart. Perhaps the one thing that exercises Christians as much as anything else is that of unanswered prayers. They have asked God for something: so far as they are able to judge they have asked in faith believing they would receive that for which they had supplicated the Lord: and they have asked earnestly and repeatedly, but the answer has not come. The result is that, in many cases, faith in the efficacy of prayer becomes weakened, until hope gives way to despair and the closet is altogether neglected. Is it not so?
Now will it surprise our readers when we say that every real prayer of faith that has ever been offered to God has been answered? Yet we unhesitatingly affirm it. But in saying this we must refer back to our definition of prayer. Let us repeat it. Prayer is a coming to God, telling Him my need (or the need of others), committing my way unto the Lord, and then leaving Him to deal with the case as seemeth Him best. This leaves God to answer the prayer in whatever way He sees fit, and often, His answer may be the very opposite of what would be most acceptable to the flesh; yet, if we have really LEFT our need in His hands it will be His answer, nevertheless. Let us look at two examples.

In John 11 we read of the sickness of Lazarus. The Lord "loved" him, but He was absent from Bethany. The sisters sent a messenger unto the Lord acquainting Him of their brother's condition. And note particularly how their appeal was worded-"Lord, behold, he whom Thou lovest is sick." That was all. They did not ask Him to heal Lazarus. They did not request Him to hasten at once to Bethany. They simply spread their need before Him, committed the case into His hands, and left Him to act as He deemed best! And what was our Lord's reply? Did He respond to their appeal and answer their mute request? Certainly He did, though not, perhaps, in the way they had hoped. He answered by abiding "two days still in the same place where He was" (John 11:6), and allowing Lazarus to die! But in this instance that was not all. Later, He journeyed to Bethany and raised Lazarus from the dead. Our purpose in referring here to this case is to illustrate the proper attitude for the believer to take before God in the hour of need. The next example will emphasize rather, God's method of responding to His needy child.

Turn to 2 Corinthians 12. The Apostle Paul had been accorded an unheard-of privilege. He had been transported into Paradise. His ears had listened to and his eyes had gazed upon that which no other mortal had heard or seen this side of death. The wondrous revelation was more than the Apostle could endure. He was in danger of becoming "puffed up" by his extraordinary experience. Therefore, a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan, was sent to buffet him lest he be exalted above measure. And the Apostle spreads his need before the Lord; he thrice beseeches Him that this thorn in the flesh should be removed. Was his prayer answered? Assuredly, though not in the manner he had desired. The "thorn" was not removed but grace was given to bear it. The burden was not lifted but strength was vouchsafed to carry it.
Does someone object that it is our privilege to do more than spread our need before God? Are we reminded that God has, as it were, given us a blank check and invited us to fill it in? Is it said that the promises of God are all-inclusive, and that we may ask God for what we will? If so, we must call attention to the fact that it is necessary to compare Scripture with Scripture if we are to learn the full mind of God on any subject, and that as this is done we discover God has qualified the promises given to praying souls by saying "If ye ask anything according to His will He heareth us" (1 John 5:14). Real prayer is communion with God so that there will be common thoughts between His mind and ours. What is needed is for Him to fill our hearts with His thoughts and then His desires will become our desires flowing back to Him. Here then is the meeting-place between God's Sovereignty and Christian prayer: If we ask anything according to His will He heareth us, and if we do not so ask He does not hear us; as saith the Apostle James, "Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts" or desires (4:3).

But did not the Lord Jesus tell His disciples, "Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in My name, He will give it you" (John 16:23)? He did; but this promise does not give praying souls carte blanche. These words of our Lord are in perfect accord with those of the Apostle John: "If ye ask anything according to His will He heareth us." What is it to ask "in the name of Christ"? Surely it is very much more than a prayer formula, the mere concluding of our supplications with the words "in the name of Christ." To apply to God for anything in the name of Christ, it must needs be in keeping with what Christ is! To ask God in the name of Christ is as though Christ Himself were the suppliant. We can only ask God for what Christ would ask. To ask in the name of Christ is therefore to set aside our own wills, accepting God's!

Let us now amplify our definition of prayer. What is prayer? Prayer is not so much an act as it is an attitude-an attitude of dependency, dependency upon God. Prayer is a confession of creature weakness, yea, of helplessness. Prayer is the acknowledgment of our need and the spreading of it before God. We do not say that this is all there is in prayer, it is not: but it is the essential, the primary element in prayer. We freely admit that we are quite unable to give a complete definition of prayer within the compass of a brief sentence, or in any number of words. Prayer is both an attitude and an act, an human act, and yet there is the Divine element in it too, and it is this which makes an exhaustive analysis impossible as well as impious to attempt. But admitting this, we do insist again that prayer is fundamentally an attitude of dependency upon God. Therefore, prayer is the very opposite of dictating to God. Because prayer is an attitude of dependency, the one who really prays is submissive, submissive to the Divine will; and submission to the Divine will means that we are content for the Lord to supply our need according to the dictates of His own Sovereign pleasure. And hence it is that we say every prayer that is offered to God in this spirit is sure of meeting with an answer or response from Him.

Christ vs. Moralism

2009-02-14T10:14:00.002-05:00

First, I want to apologize for this long post. There is actually a second part to this which is rich in truth, but for this morning this will do. As I was meeting with three other men this morning we entered into a discussion on the validity of moralism. What I mean by that is the great human effort to change our laws/government to conform to the Bibical tenets of Christainity. I thought this article was very good not only in response to this but putting our motivation in the right place. I hope you have time to read it, I know it will enrich your walk.

Christ vs. Moralism by John W. Hendryx
Death is the wages of sin (Rom 6:23) and Jesus Christ had none (Heb 4:15; 1 Pet 2:22; 1 John 3:5; 2 Cor 5:21). Death, therefore, had no rightful claim on Him thus Jesus died an unnatural death. This means that Jesus, the true remnant of Israel, alone fulfilled the covenant from our side, pleasing God. And all who are united to Him share in His distinction that death has no rightful claim on them (6:23b). So Jesus alone is our focus, our religion, our righteousness. Yet we still, as Christians often get caught up in our own spirituality. That is, we focus incessantly on how we are doing, whether reading the Word, praying, involving myself in a body of like-minded believers, being a witness,. etc. We often do this in a way where we expect to win God's approval and somehow become more spiritual. While all these things are all good and helpful when done in the right spirit, it is not exactly what is meant by giving oneself fully to the Lord, or being spiritual.
To give oneself to the Lord means that you begin align yourself with God and his redemptive plan for the world. It means to lose all confidence in oneself and recognize Jesus as the all in all. The gospel remains our only hope as a Christian. All of these other activities don't make you in any way more pleasing to God. He is already pleased with you in Christ and the covenant he has made with you in Him. When we realize this, these other activities are overflow, not duty driven acts to put on our spiritual resumé. Our delight is in the Lord and the story of His redemptive activity through history culminating in his finished work in Christ on the cross. It is not about our piety ... instead we work out of salvation in fear and trembling before the Lord. The more we look at Him the more we are transformed into His likeness (2 Cor 2:18). As long as we view the core of spirituality as some morbid self-introspection and practice of disciplines then we fall into the danger of taking our eyes off of Jesus.
Sinclair Ferguson aptly said, "from the New Testament's point of view, those who have almost forgotten about their own spirituality because their focus is so exclusively on their union with Jesus Christ and what He has accomplished are those who are growing and exhibiting fruitfulness. Historically speaking, whenever the piety of a particular group is focused on OUR spirituality that piety will eventually exhaust itself on its own resources. Only where our piety forgets about itself and focuses on Jesus Christ will our piety nourished by the ongoing resources the Spirit brings to us from the source of all true piety, our Lord Jesus Christ."
So the question often arises to me about how much spiritual activity is enough? The answer is the same every time: what Jesus has accomplished for you is already sufficient. God is as pleased as He can be with you and could not be more pleased with you because of Jesus. Preach this gospel to yourself every day and you will begin to see a new world open before you. You will rest in Christ's completed work and out of the overflow of the new life you have in Him, you will do all things filled with the Holy Spirit. He becomes greater while you become less. The most mundane, banal activity then becomes spiritual ... not simply when you are reading your Bible. You don't curry God's favor or earn more points in heaven by your activities. God has set his affection on you. You are his son - this is a reality to those who are in Christ. Recall in the parable of the prodigal son where the older brother is angry with God because he said, "I have worked all my life for you and never given me a slaughtered calf." He saw his relationship with his father as a servant rather than a son. First, you must know that you are worse than could ever be imagined and are impotent to do anything on your own. Such despairing in oneself is necessary to true spirituality. Yet God is more gracious than you imagined and adopts you as his very own son. When you know you are thus loved then all of what you do will reflect that. You will forgive others, and delight in good works not because God needs to be appeased, but because you are loved by him and that overflows in your life to others. Oh, but how easy it is to forget this and slip back into perfectionism. The Apostle Paul waned against this tendency in Galatians 3:3 when he said, "having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh?" Here we clearly see Paul's frustration in persons who think that we start with grace in the gospel but then move on to perfection through other means.
A common religion of our time is one of moralism, and many evangelicals tend to moralism without even realizing they are. Moralism seeks to achieve perfection through behavior modification. It often accompanies the religion of "family values" that we hear about each day on the radio. This kind of religion risks self-righteously looking down on unbelievers by putting our supposed morality in a comparison with theirs. It is as if we believe our entrance into Christianity is by grace but that our lives in Christ are due to our maintained by some kind of moralism. Those who believe this fall into the trap of (at least subconsciously) believing that is not grace alone that make us to differ with others. But we must always remember that God's commands to us to be holy and love our neighbor etc. are not there to show our ability, but to reveal our inability (Rom 3:19, 20). So instead of spending our time gazing at our navels in the hope that we become more spiritual and can attain some kind of perfection, true Christianity recognizes and faces up to our sinful imperfection. We can never obey God's commands no matter how hard we try. Anyone who thinks that they could possibly live sinlessly for an hour or a day has not yet come face to face with God and his utter holiness. We flatter ourselves to think this way but the apostolic assertion is that if a man shall keep the whole law and yet offend at one point he is guilty of all.
The good news is that we do not need to ascend to God via human effort (an impossible supposition) because He has descended to us. The philosophy of the age, even among Christians who should know better, is to focus on what we human beings can do to be saved. True Christianity, I believe, teaches that there is nothing we can do... we must despair of ourselves, because what we could not do for ourselves, Christ has done for us. Unfortunately a large percentage of Christians think moralism, avoiding wrongdoing of every kind, is what Christianity is all about, (otherwise why so much effort to get our morals put into law) not realizing that we need to repent of trusting in our good deeds and bad ones. Paul, says to the Philippians that all his good works are but rubbish compared to Christ. But even though we know this, our remaining corruption still deceives us sometimes into thinking that God wants something from us other than Christ. It is easy to see that much of Christianity has slipped into this error because the barriers and differences with Roman Catholicism seem to be coming down everywhere I look. Even in Peter Jennings interview with member's of Ted Haggard's church people were saying that they don't see that much difference anymore. I am not saying that unity would not be a good thing, but this unity is not based on truth but on family values, political alliances and morality, all of which are not the gospel.
But none of us can live up to the high standards we impose upon ourselves and often hide it when we fail, thinking that we must put on a good face to other Christians. That is called hypocrisy. Our many attempts at perfection often lead to immoral behavior, especially when it makes us feel superior to others. Rather, we should lead with our weaknesses and admit our sinfulness which points each other and the world to Christ. The world would believe us much more if we simply stopped pretending and boasting about being so much more moral than we really are. Real humility would go a long way in opening eyes for the problem with humanity is not simply our committing various sins, but with our very natures which we desperately need to be delivered from, something only Christ can do, not only at the beginning of our salvation, but each day. There is nothing wrong with wanting to be good, it is God's command, but when we are honest, not one is able to even come close to achieving this goal.
All ways which consist of human effort to reach God, whether it be through the will, intellect or emotions, are futile. We have no hope to reach God this way, for not only do we utterly fail to live up to God's holy law, but we have no desire to do so, except by God's grace. True Christian piety begins with God's decent to us in Christ and our ascent to Him through Christ. This leaves zero room for human pride. It is all about what God does for us. Only Christ fulfilled the covenant and achieved the moral perfection that a holy God justly requires. And his death bore the punishment for our willful rebellion and sinful passions. The Scripture requires perfection of you, but you don't have the moral ability to do it. God commands us to be righteousness then turns around and says that we have none (Isaiah 64:6). All self-righteousness is, therefore, out the door. We are guilty of sin against a holy God and therefore, justly deserve God's wrath. Agreeing with this reveals that the Holy Spirit has begun doing a work of grace in you and is the first step in conversion. God law, therefore, must be preached to the proud but the gospel to the broken-hearted, as Martin Luther says. When the Law breaks our pride, autonomy, self-sufficiency and the belief in the utter impotence to save ourselves, then and only then does the gospel become good news (and understandable). Any pulpit or gospel presentation that leaves out God's wrath presents an incomplete and incomprehensible "gospel", but many are doing it. Only in Christ are God's holy demands toward us fully satisfied. The Scripture testifies that believing that this is accomplished, not by our will, but by the grace of God (Rom 9:16; John 6:65). The preachers job, therefore, is to continually place the law and the gospel before Christians. May the Lord Jesus richly bless you.

A Premium on Sin?

2009-02-10T20:04:00.009-05:00

Luke 7:41-47 "A certain money lender had two debtors. One owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. When they could not pay, he cancelled the debt of both. Now which of them will love him more? - Therefore I tell you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven for she loved much. But he who is forgiven loves little."

When I was a teenager of about 18, I was speaking with a friend about my salvation. I told her how I had said the "Prayer of Salvation" when I was six and sincerely meant it. I commented to this friend that I wished I had not been saved at such a young age because I had not experienced enough sin in my life to appreciate the Grace of God as much as others who had sinned greatly. I used this verse as my basis for this belief.

I want you to think very hard about this and the working of the Holy Spirit in your own conversion. Please, for the sake of your own Soul, consider again the parable in Luke above.

If we take this scripture at face value, then Christ is putting a premium on sin. He is teaching that those who run up the most debt will value their salvation more than those who have sinned less. If this is the case, should we sin more and then come to Christ so that we can highly esteem this Grace? God Forbid! This is not the teaching of Scripture. It is not the value or number of our sins that Christ is here speaking about. It is the realization and understanding of the depth and greatness of our sin against the Greatness and Goodness of a Holy God. This is an understanding that is given by the Holy Spirit. It does not come to the natural mind. (1 Corinthians)

Consider this, especially if you were "Saved" as a young child or grew up in a Christian Home. You have been born with the same depraved nature as every other vile sinner on earth. "But I have not committed great sins" you may say. Ah, but it is in the little sins that your nature may be most clearly revealed. For example, there is nothing in our physical makeup or in nature itself that would cause us to think or speak of God and his attributes as a small thing. There is nothing in a man's genetic makeup or physical body that should cause him to brake the 3rd Commandment. Other sins, such as gluttany could almost be excused because we eat to survive and may eat more than we should because something taste good or because we are not as hungry as we thought. We tend to fall to those things which make us feel good or that we recieve some benifit from. What benifit do we recieve from Cursing or using the Lords name without reverence? We do not use the name of Hitler as an explitive do we? Why is that? Why do we take the name of a good God, who has given us life, love, hapiness, good food, air to breath and many other things and use it as a small thing or an explitive. How sinful is this nature of ours?

Examine yourself by scripture. Examine your experience by scripture. Can you see the Holy Spirit in your past, not only convicting you of sin but testifying to your condemnation before a Holy and Just God? Was there a time when he stripped you of your own righteousness and works and left you naked and destitute at the foot of the Cross? If not, who will stand before God in your stead on that day? Will it be Christ and his righteousness or will it be you and your own righteousness? Oh, how dreadful to be judged by your own works? Please, examine yourself. Fear! Lest a promise being left us, you seem to come short of.

There is no premium on sin. All are forgiven much! It is evident that some people have a deeper knowledge of how much they have been forgiven than others. Some learn this quickly while others grow in this understanding. How great is this God and how sinful are we? There is none righteous, no not one. We have all gone out of the way. No man will come unto the Father but through Christ. All must be stripped of their own righteousness before Christ will impute to them his.

Arise Thou That Sleepest!

2009-02-04T18:08:00.008-05:00

John 11:43 "And when he thus had spoken, he cried out with a loud voice, Laz'arus, come forth."

Have you ever wondered why Jesus called out Lazarus by name? Martin Lloyd Jones said that if he did not clarify who he was calling, all the dead would have come forth. I agree with him. How powerful is this God of ours? Wasn't it this very Lord who called forth the World out of darkness by a word?

This story is a wonderful picture of the New Birth pictured in Ezekiel 36 & 37. The scripture takes special pains to show that Lazarus was DEAD. He was not in a coma, for he stinketh. Ask yourself this question. Could Lazarus of his own power have raised himself from the dead? In the very same way that Lazarus was physically dead, we are spiritually dead (Ephesians 2:1). Look how Romans 3 portrays the unregenerate and see the similarities. They have no life within them, nothing that can reconcile them to God. We are unable to make ourselves spiritually alive, just as Lazarus was not able to bring himself back to life.

Where did the power come from? Where did the life come from? The power was clearly not in the man's faith. It goes against logic and sound reason that a dead man can have and excersize anything, especially faith. The power was in the command of the Lord. The Life was in the Lord's command. Lazarus came forth in response to the power spoken in the command. Look at Matthew 12:13 and you will see the same thing. Jesus told the man with the withered hand to "stretch forth thine hand." The man responded in faith to the command of the Lord. It is God who calls into existence. He makes alive that which was dead. It is those that liveth that believe and those that believe that will inherit eternal life (Matthew 11:26).

Lastly, consider now Ezekiel 18:31,32 - "Cast away from you all your transgressions, whereby ye have transgressed; and make you a new heart and a new spirit: for why will ye die, O house of Israel? For I have no pleasure in the death of him that dieth, saith the Lord God: wherefore turn yourselves, and live ye." See also 2 Peter 3:9 Will you attribute this work to a man? That would be the very definition of a "Works Salvation". One may say, "That may be so and all that you say may be true, but this command has been given to everyone and therefore everyone may arise by the power of the command." But let us consider scripture. Is that what God has revealed? IS he speaking to everyone, or is he is speaking to Israel. Hebrews 8:8 - "I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel" -Romans 9:6-8 - "Not as though the word of God hath taken none effect. For they are not all Israel, which are of Israel. Neither, because they are the seed of Abraham, are they all children: but, IN ISAAC SHALL THY SEED BE CALLED. That is, They which are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God: but the children of the promise are counted for the seed." Oh, Consider! What do we say when we call the world God's children. Romans 11:26 - "And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There Shall Come Out of Zion The Deliverer, And Shall Turn Away UnGodliness From Jacob." The promise is only meant for the Seed, the Seed are made alive and prove themselves to be the Seed and alive by believing, and believing, they live eternally. How wonderful!

Who is like unto our God! Who will cause the blind to see and the mute to speak? Who will raise the dead? And consider the blessedness of this people that he has chosen for himself. Are they not blessed indeed? Not because of anything within them but because of who they are in. Because of Who has made them alive and who they have been made alive in. The worth is in the Creator of Life, not in the creature. Words cannot describe the praise that is due such a Holy and Worthy God. May this encourage us to seek out and gather in his Children, call out to everyone to repent and come to the Supper of the Lamb and know that his children WILL hear, and Christ, by the power of the Holy Spirit will bring them forth. We do not have to convince anyone against their will. Christ will give them new hearts and they will respond in Faith. Praise him, worship and obey him. Let Angels prostrate fall, bring forth the royal diadem and crown him Lord of All.

"One Thing is Needful"

2009-02-03T18:48:00.004-05:00

George Whitefield, on his last trip to America, scratched into a window at a house he visited the words, "One Thing is Needful". What did he mean? Why of all things did he scratch this into the window. We would do well to follow the advice left behind, not by Whitefield but by Christ himself in Luke 10:42. Christ said, "Martha, Martha, thou art careful and troubled about many things: But one thing is needful: and Mary hath chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her. Martha was so busy doing that she missed precious moments with her savior. Where are our priorities? It is good that we should work and support our family. It is good that we should spend time with our families. It is good that we spend time in study. It is good that we spend time at Church. How much time, do we spend sitting at the feet of Christ? Where does communion with Christ rank in our daily activities? Have we a living and healthy relationship with the Lord Jesus? We know of him, but is knowing of your spouse enough? Have we a relationship at all? Will a head knowledge preserve us in the day of trial that is approaching? What about the Judgment? Will you recognize the face of your beloved, do you long for it now? If not, I doubt whether you will long for it in eternity. If your heart is new, you will not be given another. You desire the things now, that you will desire in eternity. What are they? Psalms 27 - "One thing have I desired of the Lord, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to enquire in his temple. For in the time of trouble he shall hide me in his pavilion: in the secret of his tabernacle shall he hide me; he shall set me up upon a rock. - When thou saidst, Seek ye my face; my heart said unto thee, Thy face, Lord, will I seek. - I had fainted, unless I had believed to see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Wait on the Lord, be of good courage, and he shall strenthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the Lord."

I cannot encourage you enough to seek the Lord. Our God is not like other gods, he is alive and will answer. Do not be slothful, do not hesitate and do not quit. Doing so is not the characteristic of the Bride of Christ. Read the Parable of the 10 Virgins in Matthew. Test thyself. Sleep not, rest not, persevere, seek him out, give him no rest until he communes with you. Once you have drank from this fountain, the world and all its entertainments carry no enjoyment. ONLY, One Thing is Needful!

Worthy of your time

2009-02-02T12:49:00.002-05:00

In responding to a question regarding the proper method to share the Gospel to someone who believes to be converted but shows no evidence of God's transforming work David gave the following things to think about which I thought were worthy of a post. (Bear in mind this stems from the previous post from Matthew's Henry's commentary.)

David said;

1. The first couple of sentences spoke of the differentness of Christ's Gospel. When you reach out to someone that already believes they are saved you have to make sure of your own belief. Is your message clearly different from that of what she already believes? What does she need to move from and what will she be moving to? If not, what will be your reason for bringing this up to her? If she does not evidence the working of Grace in her life, you have to be able to pinpoint that to her.
2. Christ preached a great deal in parables. He used common things that people could relate to in order to teach them at their level. Keep in mind that whatever is done in her will only be done by the enlightenment of the Holy Spirit. However, we must be instant in season and out and able to rightly divide the Word of Truth ourselves. It may be helpful, once you have thought through item 1 to actually study the Parable of the Soils. It is all about the False Convert in contrast to the True Child of God. Using that parable may be the tool to open her eyes to her current condition.
3. We must bear with the infirmities of the weak. We must earnestly seek the good of our decieved brothers. If you have not spent time in prayer for her, check your own heart to make sure your motives are pure. You will not accomplish anything by a good arguement. However, the Holy Spirit through power, truth and your love and honest rebuke and exhortation may pluck a child from the fire.
4. Knowledge! Light! All things we must be emersed in and be able to share in a biblical way.
5. Your goal should not be to convince her! You must awake her to action! You must tell her the truth about herself in love and in tears. Be ever mindful that you are not trying to win an arguement. You must jar her awake and be there for her whenever she may need it. The Holy Spirit does the heart work. I find that after I have shoved someone out of bed, they often return to me with questions, rather than go to the people that comfort them where they are at.
6. This is all extremely important. Proceed with caution and great fear. Look at the threats! If she were to die in her sins, she will spend an eternity in the agony and torture of hell and after an eternity she will realize that it is but a point and an eternity without rest or respite lies ahead of her. Proceed in Holy Fear.

I was especially convicted by Number 3.

Do we love those in our lives enough to share the truth with them, even though this truth might drive them away.

Matthew 13 - Matthew Henry

2009-01-31T08:52:00.003-05:00

This is great! and I thought it may help.

"He spoke many things unto them." (US) "Many more it is likely than are here recorded, but all excellent and necessary things, things that belong to our peace. - They were not trifles, but things of everlasting consequence, that Christ spoke of. It concerns us to give a more earnest heed, when Christ has so many things to say to us, that we miss not any of them. - (Much of) What he spoke was in parables. - and in it condesceded to the capacities of people, and lisped to them in their own language. - We ought to be concerned for the edification of others, as well as for our own, by the word preached; and if ourselves be strong, yet bear the infirmities of the weak. - A parable is a shell that keeps good fruit for the diligent, but keeps it from the slothful. There are mysteries in the kingdom of heaven, and without controversy, great is the mystery of godliness: Christ's incarnation, satisfaction, intercession, our justification and sanctification by union with Christ, and indeed the whole work of redemption, from first to last, are mysteries, which could never have been discovered but by divine revelation. - Knowledge is the first gift of God, and it is a distinguishing gift (Prov.2:6) it was given to the apostles, because they were Christ's constant followers and attendants. Note, The nearer we draw to Christ, and the more we converse with him, the better acquainted we shall be with gospel mysteries. - There are those to whom this knowledge is not given, and a man can receive nothing unless it be given him from above (Jn 3:27) and be it remembered that God is debtor to no man: his grace is his own; he gives or withholds it at his pleasure (Rom 11:35) the difference must be resolved into God's sovereignty. - This reason is further illustrated by the rule God observes in dispensing his gifts; he bestows them on those who improve them, but takes them away from those who bury them. It is a rule among men, that they will rather entrust their money with those who have increased their estates by their industry, than with those who have diminished them by their slothfulness. Here is a promise to him that has, that has true grace pursuant to the election of grace, that has, and uses what he has; he shall have more abundance: God's favours are earnests of further favours; where he lays the foundation, he will build upon it. Christ's disciples used the knowledge they now had, and they had more abundance at the pouring out of the Spirit. - Here is a threatening to him that has not, that has no desire of grace, that makes no right use of the gifts and graces he has: has not root, no solid principle; that has, but uses not what he has; from him shall be taken away that which he has or seems to have. His leaves shall wither, his gifts decay; the means of grace he has, and makes no use of , shall be taken from him; God will call in his talents out of their hands that are likely to become bankrupts quickly." Amen.

"I WILL Be Their God" Jeremiah 32:38-42

2009-01-30T18:33:00.006-05:00

"And they SHALL be my people, and I will be their God: And I will give them one heart, and one way, that they may fear me forever, for the good of them, and of their children after them: And I will make an everlasting covenant with them, that I will not turn away from them, to do them good; but I will put my fear in their hearts, that they shall not depart from me. Yea, I will rejoice over them to do them good, and I will plant them in this land assuredly with my whole heart and with my whole soul. For thus saith the Lord; Like as I have brought all this great evil upon this people, so will I bring upon them all the good that I have promised them."

How Wonderful is this God that we serve? I hope this will encourage those of us that are his children. Those of us who Fear Him. A good and holy fear that springs from the enlightenment of a New Heart. A fear that does not fade or turn into complacency over time. This Holy God is to be highly esteemed and not treated lightly. Our God is not tame! He offers no promises outside of this covenant of Grace. Yet, in this covenant, all the promises are yes and amen in Christ. This terrible and mighty God that will one day fall apon the wicked has shown himself gentle and tenderhearted toward his own "Seed". He WILL NOT turn away from them to do them good. What does this mean, oh, what does this mean! We will search this out for eternity. He has not merely convinced us of these things but reveals himself in such a way to his children that we are humbled and WILL NOT DEPART. Those who do, prove that they are not his. For if they were, and have been enlightened, how could they depart? This life spring will be so evident that generations down the road will receive graces because of it. As a New Father he will delight in us and take us unto himself and shower us with himself, with unfettered love. He does not merely give us pearly gates and streets of gold but he gives us himself. What gift could be more precious? If you do not see the value in this, I fear you are not a Christian. Oh, the evil as we perceive it, that we face in this life, is not the plan of some demon but the purpose of God our Father. Is he not preparing us for eternity? Is he not changing our affections? The things of this life are being shown in their true light. They are being pushed out and will be gone in an instant. And yet consider this. With the same intensity that God pushes out this world he will usher in the New. He will fall apon evil like a Lion does his prey and yet will fall apon his children like a Lion her cub. The dark showers of persecution and trials and tribulation ordained by the hand of God will pale in intensity to the reward awaiting us. I suggest that it will require the Grace of God in us for us to survive the blessings and love showered on us in eternity. Who is like our God? Oh, for a thousand tongues to sing!

Adoption Update

2009-01-30T05:52:00.003-05:00

Hey guys & gals,
Thanks for praying. It looks like it will be another couple of months before we travel. The new agency overseeing these things in The Republic of Georgia needs some time to review the cases. That's all the news we have for now.

See you Monday.

Monergism

2009-01-29T12:03:00.002-05:00

I have spent days studying about monergism vs arminian beliefs. WOW!!!! I have spent all these years going to church and believing 99% of what is preached without understanding the real background of the founding theology. My point.....Oh my gosh....I was a synergist. How does a Monergist stay in a Synergist church??? Well...at least it got my mind off my depression.
Pam

2009-01-29T10:37:00.002-05:00

GUILTY,GUILTY,GUILTY! For too long we have relied on correct doctrine. I just now finished a Washer sermon that teaches on the glory of God in marriage, comparing the marriage relationship to Christ and the church, I will try to make copies. You guys are awesome.........

The Presence of God - David 01/28/2009

2009-01-28T20:10:00.005-05:00

All,

Has anyone taken the time to listen to some of the attached videos? The testimonies to the side are especially touching. Let me call special attention to the third one down to the right side of the blog site. It looks like it has a truck in the snow on the picture. Please listen to it before you read the rest of this blog, never mind the silly music. After you listen to it, examine yourself.

Consider. We all have spouses and are ourselves someone's spouse. We want to know our spouse and we deeply want to be known. Correct? I cannot have a fruitful and fullfilling relationship with my spouse if I do not know about her. However, I could study until I knew every possible thing about her and still not know her. I would have to walk with her and talk with her and spend a great deal of time enjoying her company. The knowledge I have should drive me or inspire me to want to be with her. Is that how we are approaching God? I wonder. Do we desire his fellowship, do any of us truly know what Communion with God is? Can we honestly commune with the Father unless we have made his presence a "practice"? Or do we more commonly pray a prayer and then leave without having communed with the Lord of Glory? What if our hastily planned prayer time was a minute shy of the Lord stepping down to visit us? What if we got off of our Knees just one minute to early? I am so guilty of this. Should we not take Brother Paul's advice and seek God's face until he visits us? Is it not his great desire to commune with His children? I wonder what my response would be if my son came into the room while I was sitting their and said, "Hey Dad, I'd like to talk with you. Oh, yeah, I am sorry about forgetting to cut the lawn. Oh, also, can I have $5.00 to spend at the Mall." And just as I was about to respond, he said bye and walked out of the room. What would I feel like? How is it that if we have truly tasted of the fountain of God's Goodness and Grace we could treat prayer so lightly? May God forgive us. He does not treat us such. May we repent and pray for singleness of heart and may the Kingdom of God suffer violence from the throngs of prayers that our little group sends heavenward.

Urgent Prayer Request

2009-01-28T15:17:00.002-05:00

HI ALL,
We hope everyone is doing well. We would like to ask for a great deal of prayer covering for a meeting that is to occur Thursday afternoon in the Republic of Georgia with the US Embassy official, the US Ambassador, and the agency responsible for adoptions in Georgia. This is a very important meeting. The short version is that the meeting will determine if we will travel very shortly to get our son OR if we will face additional red tape and months more of waiting before we can bring Evan home.
Thank you so much for your prayers, we will let you know the outcome as soon as we get word.
Bless you,
Tim & Alicia

One Year Anniversary!

2009-01-27T20:51:00.002-05:00

As David and I were traveling together, we realized that it has been one year since the Lord has brought us together that very chilly day in January 2008 as we sat outside of Starbucks learning of each others spiritual journeys. Realizing that we were all at different places in our search for truth(I being in last place) and that we all wanted company along the way, we began planning when we would have our first meeting in David's upper room. Little did we know(I think Doug knew...he knows everything) what God had in store for us! It has been the most life changing and deeply challenging spiritual direction I could have ever imagined! I believe the Holy Spirit has not only drawn us together but has permanently knit our hearts in fellowship with Him. I am humbled by the words I have heard along with the rich teaching I have sat under and the wonderful friends that God has given to Pam and myself. We are excited in what God is doing in this group and appreciate the richness of God's blessing in it all! Looking forward to next week(Ooops, I think I am teaching...this should be interesting!)and every week after.

Sinners / Angry God 1/26/09 - David

2009-01-26T20:00:00.002-05:00

Praise God for a wonderful meeting. What a wonderful God we serve! Thanks to Tim for his earnestness and faithfulness in preparing the lesson and leading us through "Adam's Posterity and Original Sin." Check out other teachings about TOTAL DEPRAVITY at the Monergism website linked to this site.

We also spoke about SINNERS IN THE HANDS OF AN ANGRY GOD by Jonathan Edwards. The transcript can be found at http://www.jesus-is-lord.com/sinners.htm and if any one can find it in audio, please attach it in a comment line and I will link it to the site. It really paints man in his truly vile character and teaches the Justice and Holiness of our God.

UPDATE 01/27/2009 - TIM SAID THAT THE MP3 IS AVAILABLE ON MONERGISM, JUST TYPE IN "ANGRY GOD" AND HIT SEARCH. If someone could make a few CD's I will pay for them and we can give them to everyone in the group.

We finished with the Grace of God in Regeneration which was jumping ahead a little but fit in nicely. I will finish with the following quote:

"To suppose that whatever God requireth of us that we have power of ourselves to do, is to make the Cross and Grace of Jesus Christ of none effect." John Owen

Opening Blog

2009-01-26T07:51:00.000-05:00

Everyone,

Welcome to our little groups site! It is my hope that we can use this site to keep up with each other, discuss issues, plan events and all sorts of other things. If you would like to be an author so that you can upload blog topics then please send me your Google Email address and I will add it to the list. If not, you can make comments to existing Blogs. When you make an entry, be sure to put your name in the Title so we can keep up with who is writing what. Thanks again and may God richly bless each one of you.

NOTE: I uploaded the handout, "Does God Love the Sinner but Hate the Sin" yesterday and it can be accessed in the History Box.

NOTE: Please watch the Paul Washer Videos attached at the side and bottom of this page, they are great.

Does God Love the Sinner But Hate the Sin?

2009-01-25T17:35:00.000-05:00

DOES GOD LOVE THE SINNER BUT HATE THE SIN

Dr. John H. Gerstner

“Repent or Perish” forces people to ponder seriously the popular slogan, “God hates the sin and loves the sinner.” Is a necessary repentance consistent with “God loves the sinner?” If God loves the sinner while he is alive, it is strange that God sends him to hell as soon as he dies. God loves the sinner to death? Loves him to everlasting torment?
There is something wrong here. Either God loves the sinner and will not send him into the furnace of His eternal wrath; or He sends him into His eternal wrath and does not love him. Either “you are going to hell unless” because God hates you, as you are. Or, God loves you and “you are going to hell unless” is false.
What leads almost everyone to believe that God loves the sinner is that God does the sinner so much good. He bestows so many favors including letting him continue to live. How can God let the sinner live and give him so many blessings, unless He loves him? There is a kind of love between God and sinners. We call it the “love of benevolence.” That means the love of good will. Benevolens — willing well. Doing well. God can do well to the sinner without loving him with the other kind of love. “Complacent love,” a pleasure in, affection for, admiration of. It exists in perfection between the Father and the Son, “in whom I am well pleased” (Matt.3:17; Mk.1:11).
God is perfectly displeased with the sinner. The sinner hates God, disobeys God, is ungrateful to God for all His favors, would kill God if he could. He is dead in trespasses and sins. (Eph.2:1) “The thoughts and intents of his heart are only evil continually.” (Gen.6:5) He is the slave of sin (John 8:34), the servant of the devil, (Eph.2:2).
God has no complacent love for the sinner at all. He has a perfect hatred of him, “I hate them with a perfect hatred.” (Ps. 139:22)
Why does God do so much good for those He perfectly hates and as soon as they die impenitent send them immediately to hell and never in all eternity does them one solitary favor more? It is to show His willingness to forgive the sinner if only he will repent. It shows the sincerity of God’s willingness to pardon the greatest sinner that, even while He hates him with a perfect hatred, He showers him with constant daily blessings.
As I mentioned in Chapter 1, there is no “problem of pain.” The only problem is the “problem of pleasure.” Dreadful as it is, it is not surprising that God sends sinners to hell. The problem is why He does not do it sooner. Why does God let a hell-deserving sinner live a minute and then let him prosper like the green bay tree (Ps.37:35), as well? It is obvious that God can destroy the ungrateful. Why doesn’t He? That is the problem.
Yes, the sinner suffers, too. But so little. It is a gentle reminder: though the sinner receives many divine favors, that does not mean that God is pleased with him. It is in spite of the fact that God hates him with a perfect hatred.
Or do you think lightly of the riches of His kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that the kindness of God leads you to repentance? (Rom.2:4)
Our text also shows that the one reason a sinner is permitted to be born into and enjoy this world rather than wake up as an infant in hell is that God, with His love of benevolence, is determined to give the sinner a “chance,” an opportunity to repent. Alas, most sinners use it as a chance to sin! They make God’s blessed love of benevolence into a curse.
In this world the sinner enjoys nothing but the benevolent love of God. Every experience of pain as well as pleasure is from God’s love — of benevolence. Even pain is from love because it tends to wake the sinner to his danger. God indeed loves the sinner, whom He hates with a perfect hatred, with a perfect love of benevolence.
The sinner, as I said, makes every divine blessing into a curse including God’s love of benevolence. This he does by construing a love of benevolence as a love of complacency.
Construing God’s love of benevolence as a love of complacency is fatal. Instead of the divine forbearance leading to repentance, it is used as an excuse for non-repentance. Thus the sinner is not saved but damned by God’s love of benevolence.
God “loves” the sinner benevolently and hates the sinner displacently. If the sinner dies impenitent, God removes His love of benevolence and pours out the full wrath of his displacent love.
As far as “hatred of sins” is concerned, sins do not exist apart from the sinner. God does hate sinning, killing, stealing, lying, lusting, etc., but this alludes to the perpetrator of these crimes.
God never hates the redeemed even when they sin. Is He an unfair respecter of persons? No! (Act. 10:34) God hates the unredeemed sinner but loves the redeemed even when they sin for a good and just reason. God loves the redeemed even when they sin because His Son, in whom God is always well-pleased, ever lives to make intercession for them. (Rom.8:27, 34) Christ died to atone for the guilt of His people’s sins. When they sin, these are atoned-for sins. They are sins with their guilt removed. In one sense, they are not sins at all. God does not hate His people when they sin because they are in His Son, Christ Jesus. And they are made acceptable in His Son. He “has made us accepted in the Beloved.” (Eph. 1:6)
Divine nepotism? No, His Son died for these people and paid the price for their sins past, present, and future. They are cancelled before they are committed. That is truth, not fiction. Righteousness, not nepotistic favoritism. In fact, it is not their original relationship to Christ which makes their sins guiltless, but Christ’s making satisfaction for their sins that created the relationship as children adopted into the family of God.
God, in hot displeasure, chastens His people when they sin (Ps.6: 1; 38:1). It is not hatred but complacent love in Christ Jesus. “Whom the Lord loves He chastens.” (Heb. 12:6,7) God loves His people even when He afflicts them and hates the impenitent even when He befriends them.
Why the chastening when there is love? God blessed the wicked when there was holy hatred. Now He chastens His people when there is holy love. This is because true moral behavior must be perfected. No sin can be tolerated in those for whom Christ died. He died to purchase a “peculiar people zealous of good works.” (Titus 2:14) Being redeemed, so far from tolerating their sinning, precludes it. Anyone who persists in sinning proves thereby that he is not a child of God. God punishes His own especially because they are His children. “You only have I chosen among all the families of the earth: Therefore I will punish you for all your iniquities.” (Amos 3:2)
“Upright” man was promised and warned. A holy, just, and perfect God would promise and warn. Eternal life — if obedient. Instant death — the moment of disobedience. (Gen.3:5; Ecc.7:29)
When man sinned, he died spiritually and was rejected from communion with God his maker and friend. (Gen.3; Rom. 5:12ff) The wrath of God was upon him; labor was his lot; suffering in childbirth; alienation and death, as threatened. God is holy; of purer eyes than to behold iniquity. (Hab. 1:13)
Yet mortal man “lived” on (though to live in pleasure is death, 1 Tim. 5:6), and so did promise. When the angels sinned they perished without delay, without promise, without hope.
Man’s fate was better and worse than the fallen angels’ lot. It was a day of possible salvation but also of possible greater damnation, greater damnation for sinning away the day of possible salvation. God in His wrath; God in His mercy; at the same time.
This was a terrible but holy wrath. God was using His omnipotent power but according to His perfect justice. Man was affected but he deserved it. It was no more, no less, than he deserved. God is no more powerful than holy; no more holy than powerful.
As man continued to sin, God continued to increase His fury. His wrath is in no hurry. The record is kept, all accounts receivable. Every idle word will be brought into judgment (Matt. 12:36). The cup of iniquity must be filled. Then wrath to the uttermost. (1 Thess. 2:16) God’s glory shines in the perfection of His work.
But — God decreed the sin, (Prov. 16:4). Yes, for good and for glory. Man did it for evil and for shame.
A little sin and infinite wrath? A little sin against an infinite God is infinite. Wrath is in perfect proportion to the guilt. But even if the punishment were finite it would go in “infinitely,” unendingly, because the sinner continues to sin in resenting it.
All glory to God for His holy anger. (John 17:3; Rom.9:17f)
Author
Dr. John H. Gerstner was born in Tampa, Florida, and raised in Pennsylvania. He earned his Ph.D. from Harvard University. Dr. Gerstner pastored several churches before accepting a professorship at Pittsburgh-Xenia Theological Seminary, where he taught church history for over 30 years. He served as a visiting professor at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in Deerfield, Illinois, and adjunct professor at Knox Theological Seminary in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. Dr. Gerstner was also professor-at-large for Ligonier Ministries for many years, and recorded numerous lectures on audio and video for that organization.
Dr. Gerstner was a stalwart champion of the cause of reformed theology and, in particular, the teachings of Jonathan Edwards. He was called home to be with the Lord in March 1996.

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